Road v track

[goody]

So the question is...why do good road racers tend to struggle ( or not be regular top runners ) on track races yet put amazing lap times in on closed public roads,im a massive road racing fan and know most will say different styles suit different things but what's your opion and why

[Westbeef]

I think it’s less technical, the track looks to be more about technique and skill. Where the road looks to be less about hitting every apex absolutely perfect and more about who’s got the least fear mixed with skill.

But what do I know, I’ve never done either .

[mikestrivens]

more to do with how big your cojones are. Both require a very good understanding of the technical aspects of positioning, vanishing point, apex etc. But roads have lots of street furniture, walls, mud, grit and oil on the road surface. Tracks have nice smooth surfaces and run offs when you get it wrong and I for one would prefer to do any racing on a track.

[NeilM]

Also. Recently road racing has become a speciality sport. In previous generations many races did both.

Hickman etc are the oddities nowadays.

Many road races ride a few short circuits purely for the license ticks. Thus are not in it to win it.

By the way.

You stick Dean Harrison on a competitive super bike in bsb then I don't think he would be far off the pace. In fact in my opinion he would be in the showdown.

[MR_W]

Peter Hickman is normally there or close on either tbh.

A lot of the road racers use BSB as testing of the bikes and practice and don't normally do the preseason BSB testing as a result.