• There has been a recent cluster of spammers accessing BARFer accounts and posting spam. To safeguard your account, please consider changing your password. It would be even better to take the additional step of enabling 2 Factor Authentication (2FA) on your BARF account. Read more here.

How fast do you need to be to compete

pyrostu54

pyrostu54

TeamYamaha
Joined
May 10, 2011
Location
San Jose
Moto(s)
2022 Ducati Hypermotard SP
2015 Yamaha R1M
Name
Tim
Hi afm racers,
I've been really interested in racing in the 600 class bikes (I have a Yamaha R6) in AFM, however I don't want to go be a moving obstacle in a race. So my question is approximately how fast do you have to be competitive in the 600 class races?
This would be for Thill East, Laguna, Sonoma, and Buttonwillow.

Thanks
 
You won't be a moving obstacle unless you get lapped, and even then, just be predictable and hold your lines and you'll be fine. "Competitive" depends on your definition... as in, fighting for podiums, or just having *somebody* around to race with? I snagged a Novice 600P top-10 position (a bit below mid-pack) at Thunderhill running a 2:05 last year (or maybe it was the year before?. Dead-last place is probably going to be a 2:15 or so. You can jump on the AFM website and see results for races from years past including laptimes, to give you a good idea of the paces people are running in the different classes.

One thing to keep in mind when looking at times is that you'll likely drop several seconds off your trackday times just by joining a race. I was a steady, comfortable B+ (maybe slow A) rider, knew my comfort zone and where (I thought) my limits were, and then BAM dropped six seconds my first race. It happens.
 
sckego, thanks!
I used to be able to look at trackintel for laptimes but now they need an AFM sign in account.

I wrote some of the times down last year but I wasn't really sure. Currently my goals are for 600 class times.

Thill East: Top Riders (1:55), Me (2:03 best), 2016 goal (1:59.99)
Laguna Seca: Top Riders (1:40), Me (1:51 avg), 2016 goal (1:47)
Sonoma: Top Riders (1:45), Me (1:58 best), 2016 goal (1:55)
Buttonwillow: Top Riders (1:55), Me (2:08), 2016 goal (2:00)


Hoping to be able to compete starting in 2017.
 
You'll have plenty of people to race against with a 2:03 at Thunderhill. You wont get lapped either.
 
With your best listed times, you'll have plenty of people to race with - as a novice at THill you'll be closer to mid pack, Sonoma and Buttonwillow you'll be at the back of the pack but not alone (assuming times are similar to this past year).
 
Last edited:
pyrostu54 said:
sckego, thanks!
I used to be able to look at trackintel for laptimes but now they need an AFM sign in account.

I wrote some of the times down last year but I wasn't really sure. Currently my goals are for 600 class times.

Thill East: Top Riders (1:55), Me (2:03 best), 2016 goal (1:59.99)
Laguna Seca: Top Riders (1:40), Me (1:51 avg), 2016 goal (1:47)
Sonoma: Top Riders (1:45), Me (1:58 best), 2016 goal (1:55)
Buttonwillow: Top Riders (1:55), Me (2:08), 2016 goal (2:00)


Hoping to be able to compete starting in 2017.
Click to expand...

Honey Badger said:
With your best listed times, you'll have plenty of people to race with - as a novice at THill you'll be closer to mid pack, Sonoma and Buttonwillow you'll be at the back of the pack but not alone (assuming times are similar to this past year).
Click to expand...

Are you talking about Clubman or the actual 600 class?

In Clubman, your times would be damn respectable and you'll do just fine.
Your times are decent all across the board in the grand scheme of those racing 600s and in any class you'll be racing, including clubman and novice.

Plus, I assure you, your times will drop considerably once you do start racing.
On average, even the average rider will make a 5 second drop per lap in their first year or two, so don'the worry where you stand now. The odds of your going much faster are really good once you invest in racing.

Bassem (here on Barf) was running 2:10s at Sears and in his first race I think he dropped to 1:53.:wtf:ride
I 've seen a bunch of meh 2:05ers at Sears go immediately down to 1:55s and a few Afemmers went from 2:05 to 1:48s within 2-3 years of racing.
So if your lap times are the most important goal to you, racing is a good , logical next step.:cool.
 
Last edited:
I have not actually raced in many years but back when I started racing, my biggest mistake is the same mistake made by most folks on the street - I tried to keep up with the bikes ahead of me instead of not rushing and taking the time (laps and races) learning the skills required to go fast and race other bikes.

When I found I was pushing too hard, I reminding myself that I was racing for a $5 cup and class bragging rights.

My second year I was 1 point from a class championship and only a few points out of the top 10 in the club...

Enjoy the learning and the adventure of the race but don't rush yourself by overthinking it.
 
ull very likely go faster during a race.

even if u do get lapped (u might at BW), ull probably still have lots of fun with other riders getting lapped.
 
I wouldn't worry to much about being fast enough. Right now you just need to experience how it is to be in an actual race. As long as you have the basics down to track riding you should be able to learn and follow the riders that are couple of seconds faster then you. Last season I started the year doing 2:00 laps at Sonoma on a 600. After Round 2&5 and a track day to close out the year I was doing a 1:51. If I didn't dive in to racing and just kept on doing track days I doubt I would of had such an improvement. So my advise would be to just go for it, and trust me you'll be hooked it's like a track day on steroids lol and most importantly enjoy the experience.
 
pyrostu54 said:
sckego, thanks!
I used to be able to look at trackintel for laptimes but now they need an AFM sign in account.

I wrote some of the times down last year but I wasn't really sure. Currently my goals are for 600 class times.

Thill East: Top Riders (1:55), Me (2:03 best), 2016 goal (1:59.99)
Laguna Seca: Top Riders (1:40), Me (1:51 avg), 2016 goal (1:47)
Sonoma: Top Riders (1:45), Me (1:58 best), 2016 goal (1:55)
Buttonwillow: Top Riders (1:55), Me (2:08), 2016 goal (2:00)


Hoping to be able to compete starting in 2017.
Click to expand...

You'll definitely have people to race with at that pace.
 
Thanks for the advice everyone. I'll have to try to get into the next NRS this year.
 
All good man. You will love it. Just don't expect to race at Laguna.

Good luck.
 
NV 600 Min and Max
Track BW SON TH
Max 2:28 2:16 2:20
Min 1:52 1:46 1:56

This is from TrackIntel for all of 2015 for Nv classes: clubman mid, 600 prod, 600SB, 750 Prod, 750 SB, F1. Trackintel only displays each racers best lap in the results table for each race, but most people seem to be consistent within 1 sec.

For some examples of Clubman Mid from 2015
A 2:08 at BW would have put you in 19th of 25 at Rd 1
A 1:58 at Sonoma would have put you in 26th of 36 at Rd 2
A 2:03 at THill would have put you in 10th of 25 at Rd 3

Like others have said, you will most likely drop multiple seconds in your first race.
 
be fast enough to have fun, or just have fun. you will improve if you get advise/help. as stated already a second or two will be dropped just from being in a race. cant help it, just happens. glad you'll be coming out to play with the rest of us.
 
at least with those THilll times I think you'd be just fine. My best time there so far is in the 2:03's, from last year's race (bear in mind I'm a 'back of the pack' expert). so Hey. you'd probably be passing me in no time!! Get in to the hobby! enjoy the fun with the rest of us!
 
pyrostu54 said:
Hi afm racers,
I've been really interested in racing in the 600 class bikes (I have a Yamaha R6) in AFM, however I don't want to go be a moving obstacle in a race. So my question is approximately how fast do you have to be competitive in the 600 class races?
This would be for Thill East, Laguna, Sonoma, and Buttonwillow.

Thanks
Click to expand...

You times will make you competitive right off the bat. More importantly, your lap times will drop as see and do what the racers in front of you do. Okay Monkey :afm199

Patrick
 
You're in the money with your times, Tim.
 
Man, How is it I can run a 1:58 @ Sonoma (same as OP) but my best is around 2:08-2:10 at Thunderhill (OP running 2:03)

I have way more seat time at T-hill too, but enjoy Sonoma more...
 
Warren, myself and a couple other guys I've talked to have come to the conclusion that because we have so much more seat time at THill, our poor riding habits (from going there as total newbs to the track) are harder to break and cutting speed there is more difficult.

We have far less seat time at Sonoma, and for a few of us, the only time we went to Buttonwillow was as a racer - so we never even saw the track as a newbie trackday rider. We find it much easier to pick up time at those two tracks because of that reason - our minds were already getting trained better, so it's been a bit easier to improve.

Not sure if that's the reality, but a few of us came to that conclusion on our own, so I think it holds a little merit!

And actually, your times between the two tracks were similar to mine the first half of the race season.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top