Roadracing World – April 2019

By Michael Gougis

E

very rider can learn to ride

better and faster. And even

basic instruction that a

rider gets at the very beginning

continues to be important for the

rest of their riding career. You'd

be surprised at how many times

someone will remind you to look

further up the track ...

As their skills develop, howev-

er, more advanced coaching helps

keep riders moving up the learning

curve, or at the top. It's not just

the fastest riders who make better

coaches, it's the ones with a deep

understanding of the art of riding

a motorcycle quickly, the abili-

ty to articulate and demonstrate

what needs to be done to ride more

skillfully, and the professionalism

to put together a curriculum and

show up when and where they are

needed.

It's not just enough to have

raw talent. California Superbike

School founder Keith Code had al-

ready established a reputation for

having the ability to teach riding

skills to road racers when Kawa-

saki asked him to work with a tal-

ented young dirt tracker who had

no road racing experience. That

seemed to work out quite well—

Wayne Rainey went on to win the

AMA Superbike Championship

and a trio of 500cc Grand Prix

World Championships.

Today, even the best racers

in the world have riding coaches.

Nine-time World Champion Valen-

tino Rossi is working with VR46

Academy coach Idalio Gavira.

On the National level, three-

time MotoAmerica Superbike

Champion Cameron Beaubier has

Jake Zemke in his corner. Zemke

has competed in the Superbike

World Championship, British Su-

perbike, and in a wide variety of

classes in the U.S., winning in

AMA Superbike and the Dayto-

na 200, and earning the Formu-

la Xtreme Championship as well.

Today, Zemke coaches Beaubier,

and is seen in the paddock with

the factory Yamaha rider.

It helps to have a lot of expe-

rience. That way, when a coaching

client starts to describe what they

are doing on the track, or what

is happening with their bike, the

coach has been there and can of-

fer advice about what they did or

how they solved the problem or

overcame that barrier.

Jason Pridmore, son of three-

time AMA Superbike Champion

Reg Pridmore, raced professionally

for 22 years. What is remarkable

is not just the length of his career,

but the breadth. Pridmore rode a

beast of a Suzuki GSX-R1000 to

the AMA Formula Xtreme title,

adding that to his AMA 750cc Su-

persport title, and rode to the FIM

Endurance World Championship

twice, in 2003 and in 2012.

Nowadays, Jason Pridmore

runs the STAR Motorcycle School

and offers personalized training

through his JP43 program. For

a three-year period, Pridmore's

JP43 students won the AMA Su-

persport Championship. Riders he

currently works with include 2018

MotoAmerica Stock 1000 Champi-

on Andrew Lee and 2018 Junior

Cup Champion Alex Dumas.

Dale Kieffer's been a priva-

teer his entire career, yet he still

managed to put his bike onto the

podium multiple times in AMA

Pro. Kieffer has more than three

decades of experience in road rac-

ing, and is a constant fi xture at

tracks in the Southwest, where

he vends tires (he is currently the

Dunlop racing tire representative

for the region), offers personalized

training, and hosts track days.

Kieffer is well-versed in the

practice of rider training, having

served as one of the original in-

structors at the Freddie Spencer

High Performance Riding School

and as a lead instructor at the Ya-

maha Champions Riding School.

Former AMA Pro Chris Peris

is a partner in the Yamaha Cham-

pions Riding School and handles

one-on-one advanced instruc-

tion for racers at all levels. YCRS

co-founder Ken Hill also does one-

on-one coaching with professional

racers competing in MotoAmerica,

and runs Rickdiculous Racing’s

coaching and training programs.

And to get riders to the level

where the advice of a World Cham-

pion or a highly-skilled Pro makes

sense, Fastrack Riders in South-

ern California offers a tiered series

of rider development programs,

working with coaches involved

with USMCA. The Fastrack Racer

University is led by Eric Bostrom,

a multi-time Champion in AMA

Pro, with support from former

professional road racers including

Jeremy Toye, plus AMA National

winners Chris Ulrich, Chris Fill-

more, and Zemke.

The Fastrack Academy goes

beyond simply rider coaching, and

at the top of the ladder is one-on-

one coaching with Bostrom or one

of the other former pros.

The point here is simple:

There is instruction and advice

available all the way to the top. Us-

ing it is a good idea for anyone, no

matter where they are in a career.

(Above) Jason Pridmore leads a pair of students on track during one of his JP43 training programs. Photo by

Caliphotography.com. (Top, Right) Pridmore goes over video from a session with a JP43 student. Photo by John

Ulrich. (Right) Jake Zemke coaches MotoAmerica Superbike Champion Cameron Beaubier. (Right, Below) Dale

Kieffer reviews video shot with a student during one of his Racers Edge training days. Photo by John Ulrich.

(Above) Ken Hill coaches Moto-

America racer Hayden Gillim.

Photo by David Swarts. (Below)

Cameron Gish (right) coaches a

student during a Fastrack event.

RW

54—Roadracing World, Trackday Directory 2019

EVERY RIDER CAN USE A COACH:

Advanced Rider Coaching