Riding with Lorenzo

I was invited to ride a Yamaha at the Buddh International Circuit with Jorge Lorenzo. Yamaha took care of all expenses including airport pickup, stay at a hotel in Greater Noida, Breakfast, Lunch, Track riding training, and the drop off back to Delhi airport.

The day at the circuit started with a safety briefing on dos and donts and rider training by ex Moto GP rider Kato-san. We then went out to the prep rooms and donned our leather safety gear - complete with ablative armour, elbow pads, knee sliders back protection and neck protection - and strode out to the 10 Yamaha R3s track prepped for us. Each bike was assigned a technician who would check out the machine when we returned to the pits.

Leaning the bike into the turns is one of those things that look macho - and it is - for I could not quite find the nerve to lean in all the way until my knee sliders touched the tarmac. It did not help to have another rider try it and then travel sideways with this bike's right fairing and silencer box taking over duty from the tyres. In a testament to the safety gear, he got back up onto the bike and went on to complete the ride.

As we entered the pit lanes after each practice run, the technician assigned to us would ask us if the bike was performing well or if there were any peculiarities.

At 2 pm Jorge Lorenzo arrived and donned his gear. Then for what seemed like the shortest half hour in my life, he led us out to the track for a few laps.

The event was called 'Ride with Lorenzo' and the name turned out to be a bit of a misnomer, for he might as well have been riding on some other circuit. All I saw of him was when he exited the pit lane, leading our train of bikes and when he banked right on Turn1 a right hander. By the time I got to Turn 1, he was easing into Turn 2 and accelerating out of the apex onto the straight and when I finally got to turn 3 I saw his tail lights banking again at the other end of the straight. I saw him next only in the pits.

The R3 is an awesome machine to ride on the track. The stated top speed is 105 mph, about 170 kmph and I glimpsed 155 on the digital speedo on the straight. For the rest of the lap I was hanging on for dear life.

Would I do it again? I can't wait for my next opportunity.