On the third attempt the MRA New Riders’ School is well attended
Byers Colorado – Good weather and student enthusiasm finally prevailed so that the MRA new riders’ school could be held on April 27-28 at High Plains Raceway. The MRA typically holds one New Riders’ School per year on a weekend in April. This year both the original date and the backup date were hit with cold temperatures and snow, which left the MRA board and prospective students bewildered. Just how does the weather know to snow only on school days?
With weather consternation relegated to a backmarker, the race students packed the classroom at Fay Myers Motorcycle World in Denver on Friday night. New Rider Director Jeff Brown went over a wide variety of race topics in order to prepare both experienced and new track riders for what they would encounter by becoming motorcycle road racers.
Early Saturday morning the 48 students and 24 instructors met up at High Plains Raceway for a 7:30 a.m. riders’ meeting. Brown and HPR track manager Glenn Conser went over some last-minute details before turning everyone loose. The MRA has seen very good attendance for the new riders’ school in recent years which in part is due to the successful superstreet program held almost every race weekend during the season. This year an added incentive is the newly repaved track at HPR, which has already seen a much higher than normal pre-season testing demand.
The morning consisted of relatively slow paced race line exploration led by the instructors which some speed being added before lunch as the track warmed up. After lunch, Brown & the instructors led the students in some trail braking and launch drills mixed in with open track sessions featuring one-on-one time for the students with instructors.
The day ended with a double header race for each of the two class groups. This gave the students the opportunity to get some real race experience, have some time to think about what they could change, then be able to use new ideas for a second race.
At the end, all 48 students graduated with race school certification and 10 graduates immediately signed up for their new race license.
The next MRA event is the season opening round at Pikes Peak International Raceway, Fountain, CO on May 5-6. The Superstreet program will be included on Saturday giving street riders a chance to sample real racing. More details are available at http://www.mra-racing.org/superstreet/superstreet-information/
The Motorcycle Roadracing Association is dedicated to promoting safe and competitive motorcycle road racing events for enthusiasts in Colorado and the surrounding area. For more information go to http://www.mra-racing.org/.