New Racer at Nelson Ledges 09/19-09/20

I

Irate

Well-Known Member
I've been thinking of trying racing for a couple of years, and it looks like I'm going to make my first try at Nelson Ledges in September. I'm doing this solo, none of my track day buddies are in so I'm flying a little blind. I'm making this thread to ask some general questions and make sure I've done everything I can before I show up on the weekend.

First, tech inspection. I think I've covered almost everything listed in the rulebook, but I'm not clear on a couple of items and I'm failing at searching:
Oil Lines
Speedo and Tach cables
any pressure fed lubricant line
I'm not sure what or how to safety wire these. If anyone has a youtube video to point out what I need to do, I'd appreciate it. Alternately if it's something that can be pointed out at tech and then fixed on the spot that also works. I'll make sure to have saftey wire and silicone with me.

Second, number plates. Do provisional novices normally just show up with some yellow and black painters tape to make numbers, as I don't have one assigned yet?

Third, classes. I'm 48 years old and I'm on a 2021 ZX-10R. I think that means I could enter A Superstock Novice, A Superbike Novice, Formula 1 Novice, and Heavyweight Senior Superbike Novice. Having said that as a new racer that's never been to Nelson Ledges, opinions on if I should enter all of those are welcome.

Fourth, my helmet. I bought a Shoei X-15 this year, but because I'm an idiot I removed the safety stickers because they were right over the design on the back of the helmet. Is that going to fail tech now, or is there some other way to verify that it's legal? I have a different helmet that does have a sticker, but it's not nearly as comfortable so I'd prefer not to wear it.

Lastly, is there anything else I should do before arriving? I signed up for an AMA membership today, I have a spot at the Fasttrax track day the day before the WERA event, and I have a hotel booked. Then it's the racer school on Saturday. It doesn't look like there's anything on the WERA site to sign up for early as the provisional novice paperwork has to be filled out on site.

Thanks!
 
0. Sprints are only on Sunday the 20th because Saturday the 19th is an endurance day and prov novice can’t race endurance. But there is a track day Friday and if ur free I would go and ride that day for some good track familiarity. (Edit I see you already riding Friday so that’s a good start)

2.I would go on Wera.com print out a Mew Member license form select provisional novice and get your number and license assigned prior to going to the track. Use the email option and send it to wera@wera.com

1. Your bike won’t have any of those things to worry about but if it does you will be able to address it and then go back through tech. Or fill a turkey pan with brownies and pie for bribery.

4. Your helmet should have a sticker underneath the helmet pading with the manufacturer date and safety ratings.

3. If you don’t already have a license and are doing the school then you will have to do that and pass and usually they will let you sign up for more races. 4 is a lot and if your familiar with your bike then you know it eats tires so there’s that as well.

5. If you have a grom bring it because the Grom race is always the most important.

I will be there come find me if you have any questions and I can probaly point you in the right direction
 
Last edited:
Welcome to the WERA forum!

I would plan to hang out on Saturday during the endurance races. You can talk to people and see how the race day is run. Ask questions. Go to a riders meeting. If your bike does require any more preparation, there will be plenty of people in the paddock who can point you in the right direction, and you'll have all day to get it sorted. While I've never been to Nelson Ledges, I've not been to a WERA event yet that there haven't been super helpful folks when I needed it.

I find 4 races to be the most I want to do in a day. I'm usually trying to flip a tire, eat something, cool off, or chat with pit neighbors between races, and sometimes too many races gets in the way of that. YMMV.

The mini racing is a good time if you have a GROM or similar. Safety the oil fill, oil drain, and oil filter. Tape up the lights. ziptie a pizza box or used paper plate to the front, slap some duct tape numbers on that thing, and take it out on the track.

Your ZX10 definitely won't have any of those to need safetied.

For your first weekend, it's more important that you go through the motions correctly(following the start procedure, paying attention to flags, being predictable, etc) than where you finish in any race. No one out there is expecting a provisional novice to set the world ablaze. It blew me away just how fast some of the people in my races were when I got lapped the first few weekends.
 
yeah, maybe sign up for 2 races. that will be enough especially if they are close together or sorta worse, really far apart. if its hot, doing back to back races is way more work then you can imagine. you'll have a lot of things going on and might be less stress and more relaxing a little if you're not running around, trying to make the grid, forgetting warmers, fuel, tp, food, water etc. so I'd vote take the first weekend a little easier, get the lay of the land a bit, and enjoy the weekend. track day before is excellent. saturday off will let you wind down and talk to people and make the last changes you want.

nelson kicks ass. have fun!!
 
you will get a mock race with the race class. i wouldn't sign up for more than 2.
Not sure at Nelsons but Senior normally doesn't have many entries at Grattan at least.

The Day will go fast calls and when to get on grid are important.
 
I'll be there Friday just hanging out. I'll look you up. ( You'll probably have a line of racers willing to help you out). We do that kind of thing. Try your best to bribe a friend to come with. It's really tough solo the first weekend.
 
Thanks for all the feedback, appreciate you all taking the time.

Does anyone know if you're at the track day on Friday, do you have to pack up and then redeploy on Saturday/Sunday, or can you leave your things at the track?
 
Depending on where you're coming from, you can get there Thursday night and set up. Be ready to go first thing Friday.
 
exracer941 said:
Depending on where you're coming from, you can get there Thursday night and set up. Be ready to go first thing Friday.
Click to expand...
Thanks. Any idea when the cutoff time is? It's around a 6 hour drive for me, but i could possibly leave work early and make it.
 
Irate said:
I've been thinking of trying racing for a couple of years, and it looks like I'm going to make my first try at Nelson Ledges in September. I'm doing this solo, none of my track day buddies are in so I'm flying a little blind. I'm making this thread to ask some general questions and make sure I've done everything I can before I show up on the weekend.

First, tech inspection. I think I've covered almost everything listed in the rulebook, but I'm not clear on a couple of items and I'm failing at searching:
Oil Lines
Speedo and Tach cables
any pressure fed lubricant line
I'm not sure what or how to safety wire these. If anyone has a youtube video to point out what I need to do, I'd appreciate it. Alternately if it's something that can be pointed out at tech and then fixed on the spot that also works. I'll make sure to have saftey wire and silicone with me.

Second, number plates. Do provisional novices normally just show up with some yellow and black painters tape to make numbers, as I don't have one assigned yet?

Third, classes. I'm 48 years old and I'm on a 2021 ZX-10R. I think that means I could enter A Superstock Novice, A Superbike Novice, Formula 1 Novice, and Heavyweight Senior Superbike Novice. Having said that as a new racer that's never been to Nelson Ledges, opinions on if I should enter all of those are welcome.

Fourth, my helmet. I bought a Shoei X-15 this year, but because I'm an idiot I removed the safety stickers because they were right over the design on the back of the helmet. Is that going to fail tech now, or is there some other way to verify that it's legal? I have a different helmet that does have a sticker, but it's not nearly as comfortable so I'd prefer not to wear it.

Lastly, is there anything else I should do before arriving? I signed up for an AMA membership today, I have a spot at the Fasttrax track day the day before the WERA event, and I have a hotel booked. Then it's the racer school on Saturday. It doesn't look like there's anything on the WERA site to sign up for early as the provisional novice paperwork has to be filled out on site.

Thanks!
Click to expand...
I will be there both days, I am the riders school instructor and tech inspector. Reach out if you need any help or find me Saturday AM and I can look things over and let you know what you need. We will be teching mostly endurance bikes Saturday and the school will be on Sunday, but we can get a head start on that as well
 
cowboy dann said:
I will be there both days, I am the riders school instructor and tech inspector. Reach out if you need any help or find me Saturday AM and I can look things over and let you know what you need. We will be teching mostly endurance bikes Saturday and the school will be on Sunday, but we can get a head start on that as well
Click to expand...
Thank you, I'll definitely visit on Saturday.
 
Greg S said:
i was looking at schedule for nelsons and noticed there is no riders school listed, you should reach out to wera@wera.com to confirm. but also maybe @cowboy dann can confirm for you as well.
Click to expand...
Good call. That came up when I sent the form in to get a number. The 2026 schedule PDF shows a school, but that ended up being changed due to the endurance stuff. Sean said they could still fit a school in Sunday morning.

Thanks for looking out
 
Side note - does anyone know if we can tech our bikes on Saturday even if we're only doing the sprints on Sunday?

I don't want to get in the way of people racing Saturday, but if that means I can sleep in a little bit on Sunday AM I'm 100% about that.
 
Typically they'll do tech on Saturday afternoon. Tech on Friday afternoon and Saturday morning are reserved for Endurance riders. You'll want to confirm that with a WERA official, though.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top