Finding the Right Gear and Rev Range on Track

Among many of the challenges that riders face out there on the track, one that isn’t given an awful lot of thought is the task of finding the right gear and RPM range for a given corner, or series of corners.

On the face of it, it sounds like something that is pretty easy to do, but on many corners things can become a little more complicated.

In this article I am going to cover some areas of consideration when looking at your approach to a given corner, in the hope that it will help you not only gain time, but also stability throughout the cornering process.

Most will probably know that throughout a lap we want to keep the bike in the rev range where the bike makes most of its power.

This means selecting the right gear for corner entry so that when we come to start our exit drive, the bike will drive off the turn that much better.

However, this is often where riders make the mistake of thinking the engine has to be screaming at all times. This isn’t always the case.

In the end it’s down to making an initial decision on your approach, testing if that approach was correct, and then adjusting accordingly (if needs be).

Here’s some points then that may help you get closer to the ideal approach.

The Type of Turn

This is obviously going to be one of the biggest deciding factors.

A long turn that has you leaned over for a considerable length of time is going to require you to be rolling on for a while as part of your mid corner routine.

So you won’t necessarily want to go into the turn just a couple of thousand rpm off the limiter, only to have to perform an upshift while you’re cranked right over.

On the flip side, if it’s a short bend that allows you to get turned quickly, square it off and stand it back up and get hard on the power in little time, you won’t want to go into the turn too low in the rev range otherwise it’ll feel sluggish driving off the turn.

Most riders will be able to find a good gear for basic corners, but it is in longer corners, or a series of corners where some testing may need to be done.

Moving the Upshift for Convenience and Stability

As a personal example, there is a fast right hand corner at one of my favourite tracks (Snetterton) that leads onto a long back straight.

Just before it there is a short straight, preceded by another shorter, slower corner.

Taking the slower corner in second was ideal because it left me right in the power band for the short straight after it, and by the time I had travelled to and braked for the next corner (that leads onto the back straight) I was still way up in the rev range.

The problem I encountered though was that because the corner was a long one, by the time I had performed my normal mid turn throttle roll on and travelled around to the exit, I was very close to the limiter.

This meant that at the point where I wanted to apply aggressive power, I could only apply it briefly before having to change up a gear, half way through the exit of the corner. At this point the bike was still leaned over a fair way.

This had an effect on stability, but was also costing me time by affecting my run onto the longest straight. What I chose to do instead was shift up a gear in the short straight before the corner.

On the face of it, it felt like I was too low in the rev range for the corner, but by the time I had reached the exit I was coming into the ideal range with plenty of rpm left to go, which in turn allowed me to power smoothly out of the turn with stability unaffected.

It didn’t have the same initial punch out of the corner that the shorter gear gave me, but the easier and smoother time the taller gear offered ultimately gave me more time in the way of progressive power delivery, and added stability from the absence of the upshift.

Is there a point on a track you visit where you feel like you’re in-between gears?

Have a go at moving the point at which you upshift so you can less affect the bike’s stability, and also make better use of the most important part of the corner. The exit!

The Type of Bike

It is a common belief that twins have a much lower floor to their power bands, and while the gap in low down grunt has closed in recent years, generally it still holds true that the more torque filled twins produce more punch lower down.

Where the difference really lies though is in the characteristics of the engine and power delivery.

The delivery of power from a flat inline four is that much more aggressive, and the responsive and quick revving nature of the engine mean that it requires more caution from the rider’s right hand, which only gets worse as the engine moves higher up into the rev range.

The twin has a broader, flatter and more forgiving power delivery, so the power can be more easily put down on the road. This gives the rider the ability to get on the power harder and earlier, which is what gives twins their advantage out of the bends.

To translate this to gear selection, the broader and flatter power delivery of the twin means that it is more forgiving in a taller gear because the power is more accessible, so the rider can carry that taller gear through the bend and onto the following straight.

An inline four’s power isn’t quite as accessible, so the options for gear selection are somewhat limited compared to a twin because it’s easier to drop out of the power.

The Fewer Changes, the Better

Ok, that statement should be taken with a pinch of salt. Doing a whole lap in one gear isn’t going to do you any good.

What I mean is, ideally you want to reduce the number of shifts you make while still making the most of the engine’s power.

By making fewer shifts you are going to end up riding smoother, and in turn faster. Don’t fall in to the common trap of making more changes than are necessary just to keep that engine singing at all times.

A singing engine does not automatically mean faster lap times.

Do you really need to go down another gear at corner entry, just so you can have a tiny squirt on the exit before upshifting again? Probably not. This is what you need to assess.

Consider your bike’s strong points and how you may be able to make best use of them. Also consider how employing something that may seem counterintuitive (e.g. taking a higher gear) could in fact bring better results (smoother, manageable drive).

It’s worth saying now that there will always be compromises to be made, and there will always be situations or sections of track where your bike and its gearing will mean it will stray outside of the optimum rpm range.

You’ll never get it perfect, and even riders with multiple gearing setups for the machines will still need to make compromises.

In the end it’s a fine balancing act between power and stability to gain the most (or lose the least) time.