My Gingerman Raceway Review on Yelp

I rode my sportbike at Gingerman Raceway with Sportbike Track Time this weekend. It was my first time there so it was great to learn a new track. I can tell that I am learning new tracks faster than I did before. It's really nice to see this slight improvement in my riding skills. Though I did crash this weekend (more on this later), I did have a great weekend! If it's your first time visiting Gingerman Raceway, check out my review on Yelp about Gingerman Raceway to get an idea of what to expect.

The facilities at this track are so homely. Gingerman has a retail store that is separate from their food stand. You can actually walk in and peruse their store inventory -- everything from decals to hooded sweatshirts, keychains to hats. Gingerman actually offers a good variety of food. Their breakfast sandwiches taste homemade; not just reheated from some grocery freezer section. They also offer wraps and hot sandwiches for lunch; some even fresher alternatives to traditional concession stand food (hot dogs, brats, burgers, etc.). On Day 1 of this past weekend, I had their BLT. On Day 2, I had their Roma Chicken sandwich for lunch and the Bacon Breakfast Sandwich earlier in the day. All were adequately portioned and tasty. On a food scale of 1 to 5, they were a 4 in my book and I was impressed. We camped overnight since my boyfriend and I were doing back-to-back motorcycle track days with Sportbike Track Time.

If you are camping and have an RV, you can plug into the meters that dot the southwest part of the grassy pit area. We don't have an RV, but good to know that if we came here on a hotter day, we could get power to use our fans. Those outdoor electrical outlets also came in handy when we were trying to charge our phones, iPods, etc. Other people were using their meters for their tire warmers as well. The bathrooms and showers were very clean as well. The water seemed clean and didn't stink of well-water like other tracks I've been to. Kudos to the maintenance staff at Gingerman for clean facilities!

The track itself: The Gingerman track has "seams" that have been filled with tar. There are slight changes in height of the pavement between one section to another (divided by the seams). These seams are a good challenge and after my weekend at Gingerman on two-wheels, I learned how to glide over them and to cross them at an angle. It is tough though when your motorcycle tire gets stuck in the seams; you try not to panic as it pulls you off the race line, but you can't help freaking out a little. There are bumps in the track, but honestly it didn't affect my riding. Gingerman is a great track for novice riders (like me) as it forces you to concentrate and learn to tackle a less than "perfectly" paved track. That said, my boyfriend is an Advanced rider and he has a blast too. The track is rather short, mileage wise. The straightaways are much shorter than other racetracks I've experienced and the track overall is a bit flat, but these characteristics make it a great track for a newbie to practice throttle control. You can't get too crazy fast on the straightaways where you couldn't slow down enough (without clutch or brake) for your turn, if you were focusing solely on throttle control. The turn between the two straightaways is a bit sharp, but if you feel like you're going to take it too fast, the run-off into the pit area is right there for you to use.

New section: I have never ridden at Gingerman before the "new section" was added. I was told the new section was referred to as Turn 10B. Instead of being a tighter turn onto the back straightaway, turn 10B takes a more sweeping turn which spits you out onto the same straight. It seems to flow very well. The turn is downhill with an uphill exit cresting onto the straight. Turn 10b is also the newly paved part of the track which means seams that are less noticable. I'm happy with this new addition. Ironically, I crashed in this section this weekend. It was an error on my part, but I did learn that it is a downhill, though the elevation change is subtle.

This weekend was my first time visiting Gingerman and I had a great time. While not my favorite track, I would still recommend it to my fellow sportbike riders. Gingerman is also great for spectators as bleachers and picnic benches are set up throughout.