"The Superstreet and Intermediate groups were specifically geared to accommodate street and sport riders," Sera clarified. "We don't want experienced racers in any of these groups, and the last thing we want is to have a paying customer get the paint sucked off his or her bike by some would-be world champion. I tell my Superstreet group that they've paid to go as fast or as slow as they want, and I mean it. I don't want to see any rider upset because of close passing or high closing speeds in these three groups. That's not what they're about."
If you have the experience, or you're a licensed racer, you'll be wanting to sign up for the "Advanced" or "Formula" groups. These are for experienced club and national-level racebike pilots wanting to work on their program. Both inside and outside passing are allowed, and there are no guidelines for either distance or closing speed. The Formula group is limited to those racers who can consistently turn lap times in the 1:30 range or better (a 100-plus-mph average speed), and are thoroughly familiar with a "hot" racing environment. The Advanced group is similar, but geared for riders of slower or smaller-displacement machines.
Tom Sera, like many veteran roadracers, has lost more than one friend to the sport. He knows as well as anyone that high-performance motorcycle riding is not without risk. "Motorcycling is one of the roughest, crudest man-machine interfaces ever devised," Sera says. "We let riders explore this interface with a much higher level of safety [than on the street]. They can use more lean angle and more of the tire, they can hit higher speeds, and try different shifting, braking and turning techniques in a place where there's a lot more room for error." Sera adds, "I've seen bad accidents on both the racetrack and the street. In most cases, if the person had known what to do, they would have avoided the problem. This is a big part of what we offer: a controlled environment where you can work on techniques one at a time, so that when that moment comes, you'll do the right thing and live to tell about it."
For the first-timer, a typical day at Fastrack Riders begins with a mandatory Orientation School. The classroom sessions consume the first half of the day, with special track sessions for Orientation School students only. The second half of the day, these first-time students are included in the Superstreet Group. As they continue to build their skills and become familiar with the track, they can move into faster groups, or stay exclusively in Superstreet. "The Orientation School focuses specifically on Willow Springs Raceway," says Sera. "Our instructors include several local club champions as well as those who've competed at the national and world championship levels. Their goal is to help new riders avoid this track's trouble spots. Armed with that information, there's no reason in the world that a rider shouldn't have a great time and learn a lot in the process."