Riding like a moron on a small road, the opinion of the professionals

Stay gas big between gravel, potholes, bumps

The dimensions and anonymous people of the Road Rally give us their point of view

Leek once, always leek? It is possible, but not inevitable. Because whether we approach a motorcycle in terms of speed or safety, one thing remains in common: skill. To find out how to improve on a small road, be it the control of the bike, the accuracy of the exterior, the little details that change everything, we went to ask the pros and the fewer pros, the 2016 Volcano Rally, how they manage to put the gas (and especially hold it) onto a small road high in a landscape that is certainly bucolic, but

Attention, the following article is not labeled as "all audiences". He contains explicit language... Sensitive souls, go chill out instead with this other post Suzuka 8 Hours for Umbrella Girls. Indeed, what comes smells of suffering: firstly, because it speaks of "speed", the damned word in 2016. Secondly, because we are talking about going fast in a difficult and dangerous environment: a small departmental road rushed and gravel. We're talking about offense, of course, but also about risk prevention, recognition, control of motorcycles: this, according to the words, contributes to safety. We will understand that we are talking about fast driving in a confined and safe space: about special scenes that are closed to traffic. None of the following should of course be reproduced on open roads. And to calm sensitive souls: no animals were harmed in this article.

Rally is the universe, it is philosophy. According to several of their participants, this is also trekletenteness: "the sport of gypsies who ride like assholes." To respect spirit and letter, to thank them for entrusting us with their advice and thinking, when they arrive for the special, we decided not to sweeten anything.

Julien Toniutti, 4-time French rally champion

Julien Toniutti

Julien Toniutti was undoubtedly the most successful rider to attend the Volcano Rally, with 4 consecutive French Rally Championship titles and 3 honorable podiums (2nd in 2012, 3rd in 2013 and 2nd in 2014) on Moto Tour. He is also the second fastest Frenchman on the duTT Isle of Man Tour. Julien just came as a spectator to the Auvergne test and took the time to give us some advice.

It is not easy to drive fast on a small road because you are in a hostile environment, and yet when you look closely, the top drivers are standing in 3 tenths of a second. The road is a special discipline, different from the track. Take 3 boxes here: green, orange and red. The rally driver is in orange and he has to touch the red. The chain driver is always in a red box, and there he will have to hold him under the elbow and drive orange, because otherwise he will go through one, two, but not three. It's not the same approach, and there are rare truly fat pilots out there.

The basis is recognition. Today we no longer have the right to admit on a motorcycle, which is good, because in this discipline 90% of very serious accidents happened during exploration. And it saves others from arriving at the rally with bad news to get it out before the start. To drive fast on the road, you must succeed in not improvising. Therefore, I drive through special stages several times by car, in the right place, but also upside down, because I think that I know the road well when I can read it turning upside down. Then I go back on foot, because this is where you will see something that you have not seen before, low walls, bumps.

Once I'm on the bike, you have to avoid braking the hunter, it wastes time, on the road on the bike, it doesn't work. On the contrary, you have to brake early, release the brakes early and not hold the front brake in turns, because if you do, you will lock the front transmission and prevent yourself from moving the suspension, so it will be difficult for you to absorb shock. You hold the small rear brake to the limit to stabilize the bike. Then you should be in a better position to accelerate as soon as possible: a good time is done while accelerating.

A good bike for fast road riding, it must be well prepared in the chassis. You don't need 200 horses, besides, you can see that the single cylinders are still in ambush. The key is the suspension and in particular the rear shock absorber, which filters well.

Nicolas Sassolas, winner of the 2016 Volcanic Rally

Nicolas Sassolas

Attention: great potential! With a sporting background in mountain biking and enduro, Nicolas Sassola just won the Volcano Rally when it is his first rally season. This year he signed the 7th scratch-off time at Rally l'Aine.

The key is to make a large space to know what happens after each turn and use the entire road because there will be no one on the left to know where to expand, how to manage your sequences. You don't have to try to go too fast at all costs, don't brake too hard, I try to go as fast and as short as possible, that is, I try to optimize the kilometer / speed ratio.

As far as the bike is concerned, this is the standard BMW S 1000 R. I let ESA control the suspension, I keep ABS in the front but not in the rear, and I retain traction control even if it blinks frequently, even with track tires. And I also use the gear lever, which is really good.

Julien Sassolas won the rally in his BMW S1000R

Pierre Lemos, 2016nd in the XNUMX Volcano Rally

Pierre Lemos

French Rally Champion in 2005, Pierre Lemos also won the Motorcycle Tour in the Sport category and drove the Bol d'Or. He rode volcanoes in a KTM 1290 Super Duke.

You must know the road by heart, and it goes through recognition. I know I know the way when I can draw a headline on a piece of paper. After that this exercise: you can practice running the course to determine its limits and comfort zone, but here you have to learn how to read the road, you have to both veterate, being very accurate. Before leaving, I concentrate, I see the angles again, I don't talk to anyone else, I anticipate what will happen to me and what I will have to do. Riding fast in such an environment is a sport, you have to be physically sharpened. I drink a sip of water every five minutes to stay hydrated.

What is needed is to give preference to getting out of the curve, never to be too limited when entering braking, on a small road, this is acceleration that you save time. Starting with cold tires (when you have to wait until a special edition starts, like when an incident occurs) is a problem, I tend to guarantee too much in the first two moves, even if my Conti heats up quickly.

The secret is also to excel at the throughput, and it is with the suspension adjustment that the preparation of the bike should begin. I remove the ABS when I'm on the special, I don't like the feel of the effects in the lever, but I maintain traction control. However, I start second first. I switch the mode and immediately drop the clutch. With very powerful motorcycles, the power is explosive on the knees and we spend time on anti-wheel or ignition first. It's the same in special, sometimes I study more in 5th grade to have useful strength than to be below third with less controlled power.

Pierre Lemos in his KTM 1290 Super Duke R

Marie Ponce, first woman in the 2016 Volcano Rally

Marie Ponce

Marie has been running Road Rallies since 2012 with her husband and they both are stepping out of them. It's hard to say who is the fastest because they rarely manage to finish the rally together. Maria took the place of the first woman on the volcanoes, while Cyril surrendered in the fall. She rode volcanoes in a KTM 690 Duke and her husband in a 990 Super Duke.

I don’t go on the track, and for me rallying is, first of all, to have fun, if I don’t have a smile under my helmet, it’s not worth leaving. When you arrive for an evening special and see the seconds counting before rushing into the dark, this is the best time for me. I do a little exploration, I just drive the truck once or twice on special stages, just to find really dangerous places, the rest, I do it until it feels like you have to read the road all the time. A special offer is the steamer.

Is my secret to go faster? He loses weight and stops eating flutes. No, but it's also about constantly reading the road and forcing me into trajectories that use the entire road. And we also need to understand that road conditions change: temperature, grip, the presence or absence of gravel depending on whether the wheelchairs have passed in front of you, all this ... On the other hand, you also need a light motorcycle. In rally you do over 500 kilometers of motorcycles during the day, in difficult conditions you need a motorcycle that does not tire you.

Marie Ponce finishes first woman

Stefan Delo, 7 years old rally and 5th in volcanoes last year

Stefan Case

To succeed in fast rolling, you need to know all the turns, know where the moss and gravel are, know if the turn closes or not. You have to be flexible and not try to arrive like a fighter all over the place. Better to have a steady pace and try not to waste your time. On the road, I don’t try to delay braking, I don’t even take a large angle, my knee occasionally touches the ground, but not the footrests. You must be able to read the road. If you arrive at a bitumen melting site, you must immediately decide on a different trajectory. I watched the video with Serge Nukes, he gives some tips that were helpful to me, such as using the rear brake when you are a cat. We must listen to others. As far as the motorcycle is concerned, the original fork is fine, but on the other hand, you have to replace the rear shock.

Stéphane Delot on the attack on his Triumph

Krach, the enlightened lover

Step

In its 111 km Honda CBR 000 R. Krach is in its 900th rally since 9. With his replica of a Guy Martin helmet (which suits him pretty well), here are his recipes for a little road tweak:

You have to force yourself to use the whole road, because at the beginning, on my first rally, I was driving too far to the right of the road. On the second pass, I started using the left side and scored 10 seconds. My bike is ready for the trail, it's hard, but I'm used to it. I try to watch videos of specials on TV, but I have a hard time remembering them. After that, I go into Joe Bar Team mode.

Krach in his CBR900

Toph, 5 years of rally, 4th place on volcanoes last year

Tof

I don't know too much about specials and go a little instinctively. I am sure to get scared when there are blows. I try to brake early to keep the speed in corners. My Suzuki GSX-R 1000 has torque and extension; I do all the special in 2nd without gear shifting, it goes up to 220 km / h.

Tof on his Suzuki GSX-R1000

Elodie Guisar, 5 years old rally, 2nd woman in Durdu 2016 and first woman on volcanoes 2015

Elodie Gisar

I do a big adrenaline rush during the countdown. I get a little closer to the hilt because I don't recognize the special scenes, and watching them on TV I can't contain them. I'm just trying to memorize difficult places. I was doing better at a time when we could do motorcycle scouting. Since I was about to, I have been driving slower down the road.

Elodie finishes second woman at the event

Thierry Boyer, driver, dealer, educator, rallyman since 1999 and above all postmodern poet

Thierry Boyer

A pen-squeezing artist, Thierry has completed 10 Moto Tours, frequently finished in the top 10 in Road Rally, and finished second in scratch at the Volcanoes on his resume. He is the organizer and animator of the Central Team competition and organizes rally-style driving courses and track days.

My recipe for fast movement is to jerk me off in the shower and go outside screaming. It may seem strange what I am saying, but it is true. Before leaving, you must empty your head, you must not have negative emotions.

Driving fast in the special edition should be encouraged by road safety. Just because you are equipped with a spine, a wetsuit, quality equipment, you see, that changes compared to all these guys I meet on the road who ride sneakers. Then, because if you fall, within 10 seconds of having you next to the emergency doctor, it makes a big difference to those who get hit on Saturday night on their way home from the ball.

Then, because when you're totally on the special, it sticks to the damn adrenaline, and then you stop being silly on the road. You see, it's like those kids in cities who are given a boxing room downstairs. When they do it within two hours, they don't want to do bullshit after that.

In addition to recognizing a special and good river that is done on foot, you need a lightweight, balanced motorcycle, a fairly flexible suspension bike, with suspensions that work well. Only in this way will you be able to take a turn and put in a good big stream of gas.

Thierry has been conducting road meetings since 1999

Conclusion

In the special edition, all Road Rally participants try to do their best on the small road, driving as fast as possible. However, we quickly realize that there are two great schools of thought. There are those who have a rather romantic vision of the rally, a vision that was shared with you in the Lair, telling about the first experience of leeks, and those who regard rally as a high-level sport and who, like real athletes, prepare with the utmost care. required for the best performance. And we can see that careful recognition of special stages is a must!

That their advice can only be applied in the strict context of a closed and timely special is obvious. However, it is primarily about craftsmanship and perhaps a few details gleaned here and there can help the average biker better understand their bike and its relationship to driving. But beware: the road is not a track.