A Day with Chris Peris at Inde Motorsports Ranch
My husband got me an early birthday present this year that will provide me with years of fond reflection. As most of you know my husband and I are motorcycle track junkies. As I get older the work it takes to stay in shape for this hobby has increased. During the Covid shut downs I was unable to get to the gym and then had a couple of injuries from doing mundane things and really got myself out of shape. After 5 months back at the gym, rehab for the shoulder, and a few track sessions this late summer I had my day on the track with Chris Peris.
Chris was a professional racer with AMA, WSS and CSBK plus MotoAmerica. He is now senior instructor and owner at the Yamaha Champions Riding School. Not only is he a talented racer but a very gifted instructor. He is kind, he is patient, AND he is able to relay information to his clients in a way that is understandable and can transfer to improvement on the track. He noticed the improvements and encouraged me and noted the bad habits in a very constructive way.
We started out with the right hand position on the throttle and the brake, practicing sensitivity with the brake lever and conceptual explanations that braking is to get the bike slowed down enough to point it in the new direction for maximum acceleration to the next point where this will start all over again. I of course knew that the front brake lever is to slow the bike down but what my revelation was is that braking is mostly to get the bike to turn in to the corner and put it in the new direction.
The track at Inde is superb. 2.7 miles and 21 turns. There is one long straight. Slight elevation changes and a perfect surface with lots of grip. It is a few miles outside of Willcox, AZ which has beautiful weather 10 months out of the year. It is a members only track with occasional outside events during the year. The sessions are ½ hour for cars and ½ hour for motorcycles from 8am to 4pm. Plenty of track time!
Most of the session I would follow Chris and try to replicate his exact line and brake where he was braking. Near the end of every session I was ushered to move in front of him for a couple laps for him to film. We would go back in the pits to a huge map of the track and watch my laps on the screen. It is quite humbling to see how very little I moved off the seat when I felt as if I was just shy of scraping my elbow like Marc Marquez! Every session I went out and improved and then got to see this on video. Very encouraging!
After lunch he put me on the back of his R1 with proper “2-up” handles on the tank. This was to have me feel the rhythm of being either on the throttle or the brake. It was amazing to see how really slow the bike was in mid-corner and then once it was pointed, accelerating as fast as possible to the next turn. This is not a smooth Sunday ride. This method is the fastest possible way to get around the track.
The last two sessions were to put it all together and increase the speed. My mind was filled with all the new things I had learned. What I noticed is even with the increased speed I was not nervous. I could conquer the corners with confidence. I can’t wait to get back on the track again and practice these techniques (with confidence!).
