Had email about an hour ago saying 3 places were available due to cancellations, might have gone by now
Here’s my take.. Ducati uk has a sense of organisation about it now on these days. I’m sure they put a lot into the days. It’s far better than the shit show it used to be under the poisoned dwarf. however, they must be pulling their hair out with frustration at the poor standards poor discipline and in some cases poor maintenance with pretty much a red flag or two in each session! So frustrating presumably these people do track days else where are they constantly crashing on other days? The disparity of speed certainly in the fast group was classic Ducati day…. And from others in my garage it was a similar thing in the other groups. The final straw for me was in the last but one session as I came up on a v4 that was behind another v4 spitting shit out the exhaust which went to fine white smoke that got more and more from the bottom of Craners all around copice where I backed away awaiting it to go pop. He finally crashed at the Melbourne loop! Now can’t see smoke behind you but it was accompanied by misfire pops and bangs… surely you would realise something was wrong Loading for portimao sat so gave up…. Hopefully better out there
It was a shame there were so many red flags in the fast group, slightly spoilt the spirit of the day. I really enjoyed the day apart from that, weather was obviously excellent. I hired a V4s Panigale from Ducati in the afternoon, I know it should be good for £30k, but I was so impressed. I haven't ridden a pre 2025 V4 panigale, so can't compare to that, but so much less of a handful than the 1299s was.
moving forward it really needs 1) 4 groups.... less in the the group and a spread of abilities, (not an excuse to pack more on the day) 2) live timing to sort the groups. 3) do away with the online briefing that no one really watches, and have a proper to the point briefing. 4) Better Policing of the on track activity 5) id even go with a scrutineering process get rid of the shitters or poorly put together tat. 6) may be a bit of lock wiring on key locations... sump plug etc. just some ideas .
It’s the same over subscribed, over priced, shambolic, crash fest, shit show every year. Definition of madness…..
Have to agree, the advanced group was a sh!t show. I’ll have to check, but I think 6 or 7 full laps were completed today out of the 6 sessions I did (I’d had enough of taking the warmers on and off by the 6th session) that’s excluding the 2 sighting laps, outlaps and the inevitable in lap after seeing yet another red flag. I’m surprised there wasn’t a red flag on the “parade lap” Christ there was some appalling riding in that.
I’ve always fancied one of these days but reading the comments, I’m glad I’ve never been able to make it so far.
Yep I’d rather go for a hoon on my own/with mates and get a burger on the way home. Quite a bit cheaper too. Glad everyone seems to be safe though.
That was my conclusion having attended once ~10 years ago. If you want to ride Silverstone attend one of their own TDs. Smaller groups which are regularly shuffled dependant on lap time and far better managed! The very same people on this forum go every year and the very same people return with the very same complaints.
It’s a lottery. Last time I went (2023) I booked inters. I have never seen anything like it in my life. The disparity in speeds was plain dangerous. I moved to the fast group which on that day was better. Not perfect as some seem to think because they have a fast bike like a v4 they should be in the fast group when, in reality, novice might be better suited. But as the afternoon wore on the sessions got quieter and standards improved (as many had got tired or crashed out). I would not be fighting to go again to ride. Maybe to watch and talk shit but that’s about it.
Shame to hear it didnt go well, specially with the weather yesterday. I did one of these at Silverstone a few years back and had a few issues with V4's on the straights holding me up on my 60-70hp down 959, one or two issues with inexperience rider lines also that got better as day went on but otherwise was actually a good day! Did come to the conclusion its a great place for riders to get some track experience with fellow Ducati riders rather than a track day as such, so didnt book on this year. Would be open to doing again if the groups were a bit more controlled/split based on track experience ETC
I feel bad for Ducati UK, and if we don't sort ourselves out they will not bother putting in the effort to keep doing this. I have never been on a trackday at any track or under any conditions where the riding standards have been so poor and I have been able to complete so few laps due to Red flags (and we had probably the most perfect conditions yesterday for there to be no incidents at all!). I may have had one session where excluding out lap and the Red flag lap (yes, every session had at least one) I maybe had 4 or so laps, however just about every session was stopped on my first or second "flying" lap. It was completely frustrating, especially when you look at what was causing a majority of the incidents. It is very doubtful I will bother again, because that was a lot of money to do one half of one session!
