It’s an art to drive around corners with your knees and elbows dragging on the ground. Many motorcyclists want it, but cannot. The Racing School Europe offers to learn it. And not only that, as the author was able to find out in a self-test with adrenaline and endorphins.
Anyone who rides a motorcycle has certainly admired the guys in MotoGP when they shoot into the corners at unbelievable speeds, tilt the motorcycle and loop around the hairpin bend with dragging knees and elbows, only to aim for the next chicane with the front wheel lifting off. All in all, it’s breathtaking and one or the other might wish to walk around the corner like this. But where – and who shows you how to do it?
The author also asked himself the same question, who absolutely wanted to experience the thrill of the racetrack with all the trimmings. The first idea was to take your own naked bike and go on the circuit when the tourist rides are offered there. Without any previous knowledge, however, the fear of dismantling one’s own darling on the race track was too great. And then luck came to his aid. The Racing School Europe truck was on display at the BMW Motorrad Days in Berlin. Not by chance. The school works with Bayern and is led by Marcel Kramer, a thoroughbred racer. In addition to a strong urge to go fast, he has a unique ability to explain things. But the author first found out on the 5.245-kilometer Mugello Circuit, one of the most legendary GP courses, which connoisseurs say is one of the three most beautiful in the world. Because it was precisely on this gem of fast two-wheelers that the author was allowed to go full throttle for the first time with the help of the Racing School Europe.
But that is actually meant more symbolically, because a basic idea of ??the Racing School is to only drive with 70 percent of your own assets. And why not full Lotte? “Because then your head is only occupied with what is happening at the moment, but you can’t take anything with you from what we want to convey,” explains Marcel. In short, if you think you can do everything and if you’re only calibrated for lap times, you’re only partially right here. Yes, the author had to experience that too. His ambition and the urge to be fast made the first laps an inner catastrophe. Not only was the line wrong, his line of sight was also wrong and he sat on the S 1000 RR like on a naked bike.
The S 1000 RR provided by BMW is an impressive weapon that is just as at home on the circuit as it is on the road. 207 hp at 13,500 rpm, 113 Newton meters of maximum torque, which are already available at 11,000 crankshaft revolutions and over 300 km/h at the top. In addition, there is a fighting weight of 197 kilograms, traction control with a 6-axis sensor box, lean angle sensors and a wheelie control. Features that really pay off on the racetrack. There are of course the appropriate tires for use on the racetrack. In this case: Metzeler Racetec RR K3. If you can and want to, you drive with slicks and will therefore set fast laps. Even if it stays within the 70 percent range. But in addition to the five 20-minute stints a day, there are always personal evaluations with the instructor, who looks after no more than three drivers, and the lessons with Marcel.
He says: “The problem is that you always have people who don’t want to hear anything about line of sight, field of vision, ideal line, changing seats, the right gear, using the engine brake or working with the gas. At least not as long as it is from comes to me.” It’s a pity really, because not only did the man drive successfully for Yamaha during his Sturm und Drang days, he also showed some GP greats how to draw the right line across the course. “But that’s not bad,” says the Dutchman with a grin, “for those who need an authority to convey that to them, we have Troy Corser.” The Australian is a two-time WSBK champion. In Mugello he was not there for personal reasons. But the videos of him that were shown in the theory units proved even to the best that there is still room for improvement for them.
And the author? Well, he’s never seen as many blue flags (move away, someone faster than you is coming) on ??a circuit as he did in Mugello practice. And yes, the guys were fast and weird. “Oblique is not the same as fast,” explains Marcel. “It depends on how you drive into the corner, how you direct your gaze, how you accelerate out and then how you get into the next corner.” Please don’t misunderstand this. Of course you have to lean with a racing bike, because you don’t pull the handlebars to take the corner, you guide it through the lean. Otherwise the unrest that would come into the machine would simply be too great. “But it doesn’t have to be 60 degrees like the guys do in MotoGP,” explains Marcel.
In the end, driving diagonally is of course, how could it be otherwise, a question of technique. A technique that needs to be learned, as well as the other subtleties already mentioned that are needed for the fast lap on the course. In any case, the author was glad that he had Patrick Frutschi as an instructor. With angelic patience, the Swiss explained where the mistakes were, evaluated the videos he had taken and did dry runs to finally teach the writer the correct sitting position for the inclined position. And so he had to step back and accept that there are others on the track who can do it better, who are faster, much faster.
But once he gets the hang of it, the swing begins, the corners, like the really difficult San Donato behind the hill of the start/finish straight, become easier. The seat position is changed before the bend, the gears are rhythmically downshifted to use the engine brake. If the machine is still too fast, you anchor with two fingers on the front brake, aim for the curb at first glance, tip over in order to fly around the corner in a fine inclined position and with a wide view to the corner exit. You may not believe it, but when you accelerate on the straight and the front wheel lifts, not only adrenaline is released, but also endorphins. In fact, the fastest on the start-finish straight were traveling at over 300 km/h.
The question arises what happiness costs. That is different. If you go to the Salzburgring for two days, you pay 900 euros; if you prefer to drive three days on the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, you have to reckon with 1500 euros. In addition, there are 1077 euros for the motorcycle and 225 euros, which reduce the damage contribution in the event of an accident to 2500 euros.
That sounds like a lot of money, and it is. But consider that this not only includes the motorcycle in the form of the BMW S 1000 RR, but also the tyres, the petrol, the mechanics and the support provided by the instructors. In three days, the author drove over the course in 15 20-minute sessions, received just as many evaluations from his instructor and not to forget the instructive and very entertaining theory units with Marcel.
“You know, I founded the school in 2019. And everyone who works here does it because they are passionate about motorcycling and the race track. They are away from their families for weeks and nobody gets rich here,” says Marcel. Certainly not, because in addition to race track training, the crew’s tasks also include transport and daily set-up and dismantling. In the end, despite the seemingly high price, it all feels very fair because it really is an all-round carefree package.
