With the first day's teachings fresh in their minds, the Yamaha VR46 Master Camp students took another step yesterday, focusing on the saying: “consistency is key”. The Netherlands’ Finn de Bruin (18), Italy’s Kevin Sabatucci (20) and Jacopo Facco (19), France’s Andy Verdoïa (16), and Spain’s Beatriz Neila (17) returned to the VR46 Motor Ranch in the morning and ventured out on new territory in the afternoon, tackling the Autodromo di Modena.
The youngsters left the hotel early after breakfast to meet up with three-time English Flat Track Champion and two-time American and European Flat Track Champion Marco Belli, who came to help them take another step in flat track riding.“We didn’t have much time on the track, but we condensed all the work, so we had a really tough schedule”, shared flat track expert Belli. “We started immediately with building speed on the little oval, which is where we finished off on Day 1, and then we moved on to the bigger oval.“The key points were that they kept applying the skills they learned yesterday at a higher speed, which is not easy, because the breaking points and lines were different, and also the bike's reaction changes. But the progress was good, so we look forward to riding on the full track on Day 3. That will be a good exercise for the riders, because it has a challenging and tricky lay-out.
They need to keep in mind what we’ve taught them, and also, ironically, that higher speed isn’t always the answer to setting a fast lap time and getting a good result.”Though they have fallen in love with the VR46 Motor Ranch, there was very little time for the riders to hang around after the session. They quickly hopped on the bus to head to the Autodromo di Modena for a full-on road racing session on Pirelli-fitted YZF-R3s, with Niccolò Antonelli and Andrea Migno.
The two VR46 Academy riders didn’t only help them get familiar with the circuit, they were also standing on the side-line ready to observe and give tips. At the end of the day the young riders decided they were ready for some healthy competition and took turns setting a hot lap in a Superpole session. The results were close, but it was Verdoïe who set the fastest time, ahead of Sabatucci and Neila in second and third place respectively.
“Today was a nice day with all the Master Camp riders”, said Antonelli after the training. “They seemed to enjoy the Modena track a lot. It was their first time coming here, and the same goes for us. It’s nice to get to know a track and we left the circuit feeling really happy about today.” “It was another great day with the Master Camp and the entire organisation, because we got the opportunity to try this new track. That was also fun for us and good training”, added Migno. “I saw that the guys enjoyed the experience a lot and it was a hard-fought battle for Superpole. The difference between their lap times was very small, they are all very close. I enjoyed teaching them to ride this new track, I hope they enjoyed it too and that they learned something and noticed an improvement. In any case, I was happy to be at the track with them and help them, and I will see everyone again at the next Master Camp.”
