Yamaha Champions Riding School Lives Up to its Name
YCRS Students get Input from Yamaha Champions
TOOELE VALLEY, UTAH (February 23, 2012) — The Yamaha Champions Riding School (YCRS) teaches from a simple perspective: Let’s ride like the best in the world ride — consistently fast. During the February YCRS at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Monster Energy/Graves/Yamaha’s two-time AMA Pro Racing National Guard American Superbike Champion Josh Hayes and AMA Superbike rookie Josh Herrin, along with Yamaha Extended Service/Graves/Yamaha’s two AMA Pro Racing GoPro Daytona SportBike riders Cameron Beaubier and Garrett Gerloff, brought that focus into sharp clarity when the Yamaha U.S. Road Racing Teams brought their championship-winning approach to Las Vegas to share the track with the school.
Attendees at the sold-out school got an all-access pass to Hayes’ Yamaha YZF-R1® through Chuck Graves’ eyes, the team owner walking the students through the two-time championship-winning bike. Students were very interested to learn what makes an award-winning street bike into a championship-winning race bike, and the insight from Graves was priceless.
But the real treat for the students came while standing at the edge of the track and watching Hayes and Herrin circulate at speed–incredible, jaw-dropping speed when viewed from only 15 feet away! After each rider finished his laps, he rolled to a stop next to the students to answer questions and provide insight into what was happening on his R1.
“We had the opportunity to watch Josh Herrin practice turn six, which happens to be one of the turns I had been working on that day,” student Daisy DeSimone said. “After he practiced the turn a few times, he stopped and spoke to our group. Hearing him talk about what goes through his mind when he comes into a turn too hot and then adjusts what he is doing to make it through was so inspiring!”
DeSimone, an aspiring racer, was especially impressed with how both racers explained their riding techniques. “We also had the chance to watch Josh Hayes practice. He took a few minutes to speak to our group about how he works on direction every time he is out on the track. Direction and having a plan are key elements to riding a motorcycle, which seems so basic, yet so important. Being able to watch and listen to Josh Hayes and Josh Herrin really made my day and I can’t wait to attend the YCRS again!”
A second student, Mark Campanella, is a former school graduate. He was back to get tuned up for the upcoming track season, and standing at the edge of the track watching the best in the country really appealed to him.
Campanella said, “A real treat this time was the opportunity to meet and speak with members of the Yamaha Factory Racing Team. Josh Hayes and Josh Herrin took the time to take us through the mechanics of their own riding, and to discuss what things they regularly work on to improve their own performance, even at the highest levels of the sport. Both Hayes and Herrin were very accessible and humble, and approached the discussion in a manner consistent with an intimate, educational experience.”
Whether in the classroom with guest instructors like World Superbike Champion Scott Russell, or on the track with a two-time AMA National Guard American Superbike champion like Josh Hayes, the Yamaha Champions Riding School lives up to its name. Since its inception in 2008, the YCRS has averaged a 30-percent return rate for students, which proves the school is meeting the needs of students and that this sport is addicting when you’re doing it right.
The Yamaha Champions Riding School can help any rider who wants to improve their bike control. That could be the racer looking to drop 1.5 seconds from their lap times, or the street rider who needs to miss the surprise gravel mid-corner, with a car partly in their lane. We coach brand-new riders making the transition from dirt bikes, or the rider trading his cruiser for a sport-touring bike, the racer looking to step up to the national level or the track-day gal who wants to run in the A group.
For more information about the Yamaha Champions Riding School, go to www.MillerMotorsportsPark.com or call 435.27.SPEED (277-7333).