By Eric Wood
In Part 1 of this series, we spent a lot of time looking at the process of preparing to learn skills on the racetrack. This exercise focused on taking the time early in the day to clearly establish a set of reference points. Memorizing the track is a critical step to the learning process that many riders skip, making the development of their skills significantly more difficult. In order to be able to focus your attention on a new riding technique, your location on the track needs to be something that you have already settled…else you will not have the capacity left to make any progress.
The apex – your first priority
The process of deciphering a comer begins with the selection of your apex. The apex is defined as the exact point where you are closest to the inside edge of a given comer. Why is this important? There are many reasons, but perhaps the simplest answer is that without a clear apex it is impossible to determine your major tum point. How can you know where to tum or how hard to tum if you do not have a precise target to aim for? To add to this point, your brake point (in an ideal world) should be set so that it allows you to approach your turn point at exactly the speed that will just allow you to make the apex. Without a clear apex, tum points and brake points become impossible to pin down and the entrance to any comer becomes confusing.
What type of corner am I in?
The problem begins because many riders don’t know exactly how to set an apex. In recent years at the Penguin Racing School we have been teaching our students how to first determine the type of comer that they are approaching in order to help them in the process of establishing an apex. Once the basic type of comer is determined, our students are able to tailor their line to match the proper strategy for that comer. For the sake of simplicity, we try to take all comers and place them in one of three categories: entrance focused, roll speed focused and exit focused. Not every comer on every track will fit perfectly into one of these imaginary “boxes”, but when riders examine most comers there are almost always obvious clues that provide a good place to start. For many riders, the confidence derived simply from being able to pick out an apex moves them well along the way to relaxing and riding harder.
The same principles apply to everyone
The great part about this process is that it doesn’t matter if you are a racer or a track day rider, it works for everyone. When your line through a comer is centered around a properly chosen apex you will be able to both ride faster and with less risk. Imagine Valentino Rossi riding through a comer at the very limit of traction on nearly any line that he wants (he can). However, even when factoring in his immense talent, if Valentino were forced to ride the wrong line (say, the line of a new track day rider) he may not even be able to keep up with good regional expert who was on the right line.
What your line selection really means
Lines, in the end, determine how much traction you have available for braking, turning and acceleration. The more upright the motorcycle is on the way in, the more front grip you will have available to brake with. The same principle applies to exits and acceleration. In addition, the less time you can spend actively turning the bars (loading both the front and rear tires), the more grip you will have available to carry comer speed.
This is a very important concept that we will expand upon in a future article. The main challenge is that a rider cannot brake, turn and accelerate at a maximum through any single comer. Every act (for example, getting on the gas before the apex) comes at the expense of something else (being able to trail brake deep into the comer). The key to analyzing a comer properly stems from the conscious application of these simple principles.
Speed is the driving force
The focus of any comer should always be where the speed is. When you think about it, majority of comers out there involve substantial braking, acceleration or both. The most important factor when analyzing most comers is not the comer itself (unless it is a very fast comer). Rather, it is most often what precedes and what follows a comer that has the greatest affect on our apex and line selection. Maintaining speed from a long straight or getting a good drive onto a long stretch of racetrack are always top priorities.
Roll Speed Focus – A common starting place
When getting started, most riders place the apex in the center of the comer and use the classic “outside-inside-outside” strategy. This roll speed focused line is OK when you are getting started, but is truly correct only in comers where the primary focus is to increase roll speed through the comer. This strategy is a good choice if your comer is a “connection” corner that does not involve significant acceleration or braking. In addition, if the comer itself is very high speed (4th-5th gear) then maintaining roll speed becomes increasingly more important and a roll speed focused line should be considered.
Good Drive – The top priority
The first priority that should be considered when establishing your comer strategy is the length and speed of the straightaway that follows the corner. The reason that this takes priority over the entrance is that an important straight can be 2500+ feet long. Starting a long straight with a 5mph head start will help you ride faster for 2500 feet. Most braking zones comprise, at most, the final 20% of the straight. It only stands to reason that it does not make sense to gain 5mph on the entrance if it means sacrificing 5mph on the way out (when you are covering 5 times the ground).
In order to get a good drive off of a comer, your bike needs to get upright as soon as possible. The more horsepower you have, the more important this principle becomes. The entrance trajectory is wider and there is an area just prior to the apex where this line tightens up, signifying a defined tum in point before the apex. This extra turning requires the sacrifice of some entrance speed, but the reward is that the motorcycle is much more upright at the apex. This allows the throttle to be opened before the apex and the motorcycle gets to full throttle much sooner than when the rider uses a roll speed focused approach. This exit focused comer strategy is what is often referred to as the “classic” racing line.
Entrance Speed Focused
If the corner you are analyzing does not have a significant drive on the exit then you will often want to try to maintain that entrance speed as long as you can. In order to do this the motorcycle should be upright as long as possible so that the braking zone can be extended deeper into the comer. With this strategy, we often make early trajectory change known as a “pre-tum” that allows us to come into the comer on a slightly shallower line while leaving the bike more upright. The apex in a comer in this category will come earlier than in a drive focused or roll speed focused comer. Since there is no drive on the exit of this comer, the rider can afford to use the available traction to tum the bars after the apex. Many tracks will have at least one comer like this.
It is important to note that while the early apex line is an extremely valuable strategy in certain comers, it is also very often the mistaken path taken by a rider who panics on the entrance of a comer and turns in too early. If you ever find yourself putting in significant bar input after the apex of any comer that has any kind of meaningful acceleration on the exit (this is the key factor) – Stop! This post apex bar input during acceleration is the single most common reason that newer riders fall down. The combination of acceleration (which unweights the front tire) and turning is often enough to exceed the limits of traction of the front tire.
Final Thoughts
This method of establishing a corner type to establish an initial apex has proven to be very effective in giving riders a solid place to start. Once a rider recognizes the focus of a corner, the pieces begin to come together quickly. Remember, the focus is always where the speed is. With the goal in each corner identified and reference points identified, we’re now ready to start working on our riding (the fun part)!
All the best – Eric Wood
Penguin Racing School Inc.
Reprinted by permission from Penguin Racing School Inc. © 2026. All rights reserved.
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