For the last 20 years the Ron Haslam Race School has been helping riders develop their riding skills on track – with more than 70,000 passing through their doors so far at Donington.
Recently Honda presented Ron and Ann with an award recognising their amazing achievement two decades on, and in the latest issue of Motorcycle News they’ve been down to see The Rocket and find out more about it.
Honda have been involved with the school from the start, supplying a fleet of CB500, 600 and Fireblade bikes from 1997 onwards. With no business plan, and little experience running a company, Ron and Ann remortgaged their home and took a gamble on a dream becoming reality.
Now they offer courses for everyone from children to adults with their On Track, Premier and Elite courses which promise to improve your riding on the track, which will also benefit you on the road. Youngsters get a chance to learn more about the importance of bike control before they get their licence and venture out on to the roads, hopefully making them better riders as a result.
It’s been such a success since it first opened that their most regular customer has been back more than 100 times, and still learns something new on every visit!
They’ve given many a modern day racing superstar their first taste of track time, with Sam and Alex Lowes, Jonathan Rea and Cal Crutchlow all cutting their teeth under Ron and the team’s watchful eye.
Now back in BSB, Ron’s son Leon is also a regular sight, disappearing off down Craner Curves after putting in a 1.37 lap to the amazement of on-lookers stood by the pitwall during MCN ‘s visit. To put that into context, Tom Sykes holds the current Superbike lap record set in 2015 qualifying, where he managed a 1:27.071.
What makes that even more amazing is that Leon is using one of the school’s stock Fireblades. All of their bikes also come fitted with the latest Bridgestone Battlax T30 EVO sport touring rubber.
Any rider who uses one of the school’s bikes will be sent out on the Bridgestone tyres which have some clear advantages over track day rubber when it comes to use at a training school – they warm up faster, they grip well in the wet, and they last longer – but they’re also surprisingly quick, showing just how far sport touring rubber has come in the last decade or so.
If you fancy going even faster and push the tyres to their limits, then there’s always the option to have a pillion ride with the man himself.
So, how has Ron’s school become so successful? His Chief Instructor Adrian says it’s down to Ron himself – his patience, love of bikes and the enjoyment he gets from helping other riders to improve their skills.
Pick up the 20th April 2016 edition of MCN to find out more, and get some of Ron’s key riding tips.
Check out the new Battlax T30 EVO here.
