Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/128025
Jason Pridmore's Star School By CHRIS JONNUM 'S:St hen I went on short notice to live temporarily in Italy about a decade ago, I immediately signed up for an Italian course at the local university. Despite the fact that the only word I knew was ciao, I was eager to get started on the first day of class until the teacher handed out a test to determine which level group to place us in. Since the instructions were given in Italian, I wasn't even sure what the piece of paper was, and I turned in the test without making so much as a mark. I had that same lost sensation on the morning of Jason Pridmore's Star School, which I attended recently at Spring Mountain Motorsports Park in Pahrump, Nevada. I primarily ride dirt bikes, to the extent that prior to the class, nearly all of my tarmac experience had come aboard dual-sport bikes. So scarce was my sport-bike knowledge that I didn't even know where to start, a fact that may leave you wondering what I was doing enrolled in a road racing school headed by a former AMA Super Sport Champion (and son of three-time AMA Superbike Champion Reg Pridmore). There's an easy explanation. Though Jason Pridmore's schools do teach serious road racers how to go faster, they also have sessions which teach skills that make riding on public roadways safer and more enjoyable. But don't think this is one of those boring safety courses where people W 18 JANUARY 26.2000' cue • e t You can put the dirt biker on ;: the pavement, but can you put the pavement in the dirt biker? wobble around orange cones or try to balance along a straight line. My classmates and I got an ample amount of real racetrack time, during which we had plenty of opportunities to get our adrenaline flowing. It's the ideal situation for someone who has no desire to enter organized road races but wants to experience the thrill of a racetrack. And if you're more serious, there's an Advanced group that focuses on skills that help to win races. Since the Star format has students alternating all day long between classroom time and racetrack time, Pridmore and company can accommodate the two groups on the same day (with the Race group on the track while the Street group is in the classroom, and vice versa). This flip-flop technique allows students to immediately apply small chunks of knowledge. SESSION 1 (RELAXING, LINES) Though my first classroom session had provided me only a comparatively miniscule amount of information to practice, my initial outing on the track was a bit of a struggle - despite the n e vv s fact that we were just putting along in a line behind an instructor. I was so overwhelmed by the fact that I was on a racetrack that I had a hard time remembering to breath through my mouth - or at all. And when I remembered that, I would forget to keep my upper body relaxed. Fortunately, our single-file approach meant I couldn't screw up line selection. SESSION 2 (TURN ENTRYI EXIT POINTS, FIELD OF VISION) Though I had "even" more information to process on my next outing, I had an easier time applying it. The single-file routine was off, so I found myself getting passed and actually passing others, and while only outside passing is allowed, it was unnerving not to be able to look behind me to see who was coming (Star has students tape off their mirrors, and asks that they focus their attention forward). I came away from this session with several impressions: changes in body position make big differences in what the bike does; the bike handles much better when my Jason Pridmore performing his other job in the AMA National Championship Road Race Series. body is relaxed; concentrating on correctly performing techniques occupies my mind and leaves no room to be scared by the speed; and riding on a road race course is really fun! SESSION 3 (LINE SELECTION, I?OCUSING DOWNTRACK) Relatively little new classroom information was added this time, which meant riders could more thoroughly practice what they had been taught already. Oddly, I felt like I actually took a step back this time out. Ontrack instructors routinely pull riders over throughout the day when they have suggestions; I was sidelined temporarily during this session, given tips as to body position, and told to hold the handlebar lightly as if it were a chick (as in baby chicken, and get your mind out of the gutter). Getting pulled over is not supposed to be considered a bad thing, and I actually would have liked a little more oneone-one instruction during the day. SESSION 4 (BODY POSITION) Pridmore rolled a bike into the classroom for this teaching portion, and the subsequent flood of knowledge definitely had me suffering from information overload. On the track, I would