The 2017 Riding Season is almost here.

2017 is HERE!!

Here are the 3.5 things you need to know this month  2017 Schedule of events is live! Registration open for select early dates. The evolution of NESBC - 4 dates, Team Mentor Program & more Air Fence Raffle - win a 2017 Kawasaki Ninja 3003.5 At the bottom is a link to our first PRS Riding Techniques article of 2017 with some key suggestions that will help you next season!

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2017 Schedule 20 Dates at 5 race tracks Our 2017 schedule has all the events you've come to expect, plus some great additions! (6) NHMS Friday events (3) Canaan weekend events (1) Annual Kawasaki event at Thompson (1) NEW Sunday NHMS event (1) Annual NHMS 2 day pro school (1) NEW NJMP April event (2) Special events -  NYST & NHMS

NESBC 2017 - weekend track events3 Canaan dates, 1 NHMS date! Tracks days with optional (just for fun) races for track day riders, novices/amateurs, plus two purse paying classes for F300 & motard racers! New! Team/Mentor Program  Form teams (up to 4 riders + 1 mentor) and compete for prizes and fun and a $1500 year end cash jackpot!  Riding and working together is great fun!

Support rider safety by purchasing (1 or more) raffle tickets for a 2017 Kawasaki Ninja 300!  $50 per ticket and only 200 tickets will be sold. Proceeds from the raffle will go towards the purchase of Air Fence to be used at Penguin events.  Improve safety, win a new bike  CLICK HERE!

Starting 2017 Right We've put together an article that includes several specific action items for riders of all levels can implement in 2017.  We start out with bike choice but then move into some simple techniques to accelerate your learning curve. Valuable Lessons learned from Women Riders

Canaan, NH Special 2 Day Event

Be the first to ride this brand new track!!

Special  Penguin Event:

This event is being run as a special date run at the new facility in Canaan.  The track is a ton a fun, and we will try running it in both directions, plus we'll have a pit bike/scooter/mini moto session at the end of the day on the special short (and tight) configuration of the course.  We are even looking at doing some mini moto dirt drills.  While there will definitely be instruction available that riders traditionally find at Penguin events, this date will have some fun twists thrown in to create a super fun & casual atmosphere.  If you have a pit bike with either dirt or street wheels - bring it!  This track day will have plenty of laughs mixed in with the riding.
CLICK HERE for more information

• Premium space - Limited to only 40 riders
• Classrooms and available 1 on 1 time with coaches
• Learn the course in both directions! 
• 1/2 Day Motard Rentals - If you've ever wanted to try a Motard bike, this is your chance!  This track is perfect for them! 
•  Lots of fun mixed in with the riding day

Details:

• 3 Riding Groups
  • White (Beginner) - New riders
  • Yellow (Intermediate) - A few track days experience
  • Red (Advanced) - A few years track day experience
    
• Lots of track time
• Join us for dinner on Saturday night at the track
• Camping on site available

Check out our Facebook events page

Rental Equipment:  Motorcycles & equipment may be rented for both the school and racing and we strongly recommend reserving in advance as items can sell out.  Click here for full information on rental equipment.

June 17/18 Loudon Penguin Road Racing 2 Day School

On these two days, June 17th and 18th, we offer a Licensing Certification class on Wednesday the 17th and LRRS Practice on Thursday the 18th only. On both days you can attend our Advanced Rider Class or come and enjoy your machine in our track Experience Group.

This will also be the first NHMS event were we have Kawasaki KXF450 Motard bikes available. http://penguinroadracingschool.blogspot.com/2015/05/motard-rental-bikes-3-day-racer.html

Remember:
These two days are also the 2nd and 3rd day of our Penguin 3 Day June Racer Performance Improvement Guarantee. Be sure to sign up for the June 8th event at Thompson to be part of this program.

We are also offering 3 separate Track Experience Events6/8 Thompson, 8/3 Thompson, 8/24 NHMS

Track Experience Events - Top 4 Questions

1. Classroom Time?  Opportunity to learn is available, but not mandatory.  If you want to learn, we have an unbelievable staff that can answer any question you've got.  If you want to just ride, the only classroom that is required is the very first one.  
2. But you're Penguin Racing School!  This is the #1 misconception out there.  While our Track Experience Dates often have one racer group, the majority of our groups are a Track Day type experience.  Most riders on these dates are NOT racers - by design!
3. Can I get licensed on these days?   No, you cannot.  If you want to get started in racing, join one of our 7 dates that precede the LRRS race weekends.
4. I'm not ready for Penguin.  The #2 misconception out there.  These days are designed to be a comfortable place to ride your bike.  While not an MSF course, they are a great place to ride for anyone comfortable with riding a street bike.  Track Experience days are the place for you!

Track Experience Testimonial - 
“Before attending, I was worried about aggressive riding and race passing. I’m happy to say that I did not find this to be true – in fact the experience was the opposite. The combination of well presented information from some of the most skilled instructors available, and well sized on-track groups that offered plenty of room to safely practice (even in the fastest group) made for what was likely the most educational single day I’ve had on a motorcycle. Whether you are trying to take seconds off your lap times or are a newer rider wanting to learn how to ride safer and with more confidence, a day with the Penguin crew will offer you the tools to accomplish your goals while having a great time riding.” - I.B., July 2014

MOTARD Rental Bikes and 3 Day Racer Performance Improvement Guarantee!

Motard Rental Bikes

Starting with our June events, Penguin will now be offering 2015 Kawasaki KXF450 Motard rental bikes! Ever see the motard racers at Loudon having a blast and want to join in? Do you know a dirt rider who is reluctant to try to track on a road bike? Do you know a kid who has only ridden dirt bikes and wants a fantastic way to get into riding the track? These bikes are an absolute blast, and should clear away a number of barriers for many riders who have perhaps had objections to trying out our sport in the past. Speaking from personal experience, motard bikes are incredibly fun to ride on the track. When I introduced my own son to the track, I put him on a motard (in the pouring rain that day) and he absolutely loved it. The tracks that we are offering these bikes (Loudon and Thompson) are two of the very best road courses for motard bikes in the country. We are looking forward to seeing the smiles on people's faces as they ride these awesome machines!


The Penguin 3 Day June Racer Performance Improvement Guarantee
Racers, if you want to drop your times - this is the way. We Guarantee it!

What's the program? Simple. Attend the three Penguin days in June - June 8th at Thompson and the two day school at Loudon June 17-18
Why the three days? Most riders have run an event or two at NHMS already this season. The cobwebs are shaken off, and if you're like most riders you're riding a similar pace to last season (and maybe the season before that, and the season before that). To get out of the rut, many riders need to form new habits. Enter Thompson. This is not a track we race, so there is no pressure for lap times. The nature of the track has proven to be a fantastic place to work on technique (riding position, body inputs, etc...). With the lap time pressure gone, riders have shown the ability to actually focus on things that provide improvement for the LONG TERM! Enter Loudon With a day at Thompson under your belt, we take our two day program and give you focused 1 on 1 attention to take your improved technique and apply it to drop your times.
Who does it work for? Everyone. Newer riders - it's almost too easy. We've had guys drop 6 seconds a lap with this program (no kidding). We also just proved it again with an Expert level racer who did a two day program (one track day like Thompson and one race school). After our event he ran a personal best (fastest in years - riding the same bike) and beat several riders he had never beat before...and this guy is fast (approaching the 1:16 level on an SV).
What does it cost? $750 for the three days
What extras do I get? Every rider will get a free Garmin Video clip at NHMS with full GPS data
How many spots are there We are accepting 8 racers into this program
How do I sign up? Just go to the Penguin site and sign up for both events. The first 8 riders are eligible and we'll announce when the program is full.

Sign up for Thompson Event - CLICK HERE

Sign up for NHMS 2 Day Event - CLICK HERE



Contest (among the 8 riders) - Rider with the biggest improvement will get a FREE $399 Garmin HD Video Camera
Performance measurement We'll take your best lap as recorded by LRRS in 2015. The rider with the biggest improvement will win the camera. Winner to be announced here on the Monday after the classic

Check out our Events Button on our Facebook Page 

for updates on all schools, track days and other events.

https://www.facebook.com/penguinracingschool 

Daytona 200 Race Report

The 74^th Daytona 200 was quite an eventful race for everyone involved.  The Woodcraft/Penguin Racing Kawasaki ZX636 worked very well during the course of the weekend, and we have a lot of people to thank for contributing to the effort in many different ways.

The team sorted through some typical Daytona issues early in the weekend, and the bike really started to come around on Friday afternoon before qualifying.  Our bike had the fastest trap speed of all the Kawasaki’s during the qualifying session, and after Q1 we found ourselves in 5^th place.  We then went out in qualifying session two and put in some good laps on a race tire and then put on a soft qualifier to try to better our times, but we pushed a little too hard in a couple places and could only match our race tire pace.

Starting from the third row we had a great chance to run with the lead pack.  We had a good restart after the first of 4 red flags during the day brought us back into the pits before the first lap was completed.  The pace was fast up front and I watched a ton a positions swapping around in the first few laps.  With Daytona being such a long race, our strategy was just to make sure that we hung onto the lead draft and stayed within a few seconds of the leaders until the first round of pit stops.  We ran our fastest lap of the race (1:51.9) on lap nine as we made a push to stay with the leaders.  When the lead pack caught the first group of lapped riders it was crazy!  That served as a separator and broke the pack up a bit.  As the first round of pit stops was approaching, a red flag halted the action.

We got a good start to begin lap 20, and ran again until a third red flag halted the action 11 laps later.  This would alter the pit stop strategy for everyone in the field.  Our plan was to run as long as we could on each tank to avoid losing track positions on another red flag.  We were running with the lead pack and looking to pass eventual 4^th place finisher Bostjan Skubic, but when we were forced to tighten our entry entering turn 6 we lost the front and crashed into the air-fence at about 60MPH.  Luckily, I was unhurt but the bars bent to the point where I only had a couple degrees of steering movement, and it looked like our race was over.  Luckily, the 4^th red flag of the race came out a few minutes later, and I thought that we might be able to get back into the race.  We managed to limp the bike back into the pits and my fantastic crew pulled parts from my spare bike and managed to secure a few parts back together with zip ties and duct tape.

The final start went smoothly and we were right up front, and when I looked up at the leader board I realized that we were a lap down and in 18^th place.  Our fight was to get back as many positions as possible, and with the help of a fantastic final pit stop we were able to get back up to 12^th place in the final 26 laps. 

Many thanks for the help we got from so many people for this event.  First and foremost, I need to thank my crew members who came down to help during this race.  I am especially thankful for my wife Margo for all her support, son Austin who was in charge of the fuel, and daughter Amanda who ran the towel and drinks during pit stops.  Wheel changes and lots of work in the pits all weekend long were run by Waylon Dempsey (who also built me great motors), Chris Holske, and Steve Aspland.  Jerry Wood manned the extinguisher and ran pit stop inspections, Dee Wood kept a detailed race chart, Jerri Boatman ran our pit board, and Joanna Piepiora was ready and willing to help with anything that was needed.

Nordica and First Trax Sport Shop put together a raffle for some top shelf ski gear, and we owe both them and all the people who supported us by buying tickets a big vote of thanks!  We got support from a bunch of great companies to put together our Kawasaki 636’s.  Woodcraft, Penguin Racing, Kawasaki, Armour Bodies bodywork, Dunlop tires, Maxima Oils, Vanson leathers, Arai helmets, TCX boots, Held gloves, Penske shocks, GMD Boston, Arrow exhaust, Street & Competition, Bazzaz, VP fuels, Van Waylon engines, Robs Dyno, Zero Gravity windscreens, Turn One graphics, Speedcell batteries, Vesrah brakes and K Tech forks.  I also want to thank Justin from Adrenaline Cycles for fantastic work on a dry break fuel tank, Jason Farrell for help with some spare parts and for being a perfect drafting partner and Jeff Maloney from GP tech for lending us a top shelf quick fill fuel tank.  Finally, I want to thank all the supporters we had cheering us on both at the track and at home.  We are very fortunate to be part of a great family of racers who support each other in this sport we all love.

Coverage on Fanschoice.TV

Also check out this YouTube Video
https://youtu.be/zGXwE-VU-ok

                                        Motors Built and Maintained by
                                        http://vanwaylonmotorsports.com

See you at the Northeast Motorcycle Expo in Salem, NH Feb. 14 & 15 2015

Thanks to all who stopped by our booth at the Motorcycle Expo in Boston.

We were presenting our Learn to Fly membership packages.

Click Here for more information

Congrats to all who were able to take advantage of our Show Special.

See you at the next show:

Northeast Motorcycle Expo
http://www.kevmarv.com
Feb 14 & 15, 2015
Rockingham Park Race Track
79 Rockingham Park Boulevard
Salem, NH 03079

Learn to Fly - 2015 Memberships

All Penguin Track Day, Race School and Racer Practice Enthusiasts!

Are you that person who shows up at almost every Penguin event we offer?
Have you seen our Learn to Fly Membership packages that will save you money and offer you some great discounts on our events and supporters products?

If you plan on riding with us more than 3 times this year you need the LTF Basic, plan to ride more than 4 times then the LTF Plus is for you. (LRRS Practice deals are also available)

What’s in it for you?

•           Discounts on every school & Track Day
•        Discounts on "practice only" Days
•           A Free Collectable Penguin School tee-shirt
•           Crash and Mechanical Insurance
•           Free Team Promotion Pass ($99 value)
•        Rain and no show insurance
•           Bring a friend and receive credits
•           If your friend buys LTF that day - more credits to you
•           Discounts at participating dealers
•           Product discounts from our school's sponsors
•           Free Kawasaki Demo Rides

Click Here to see details here and become part of the
Learn to Fly Penguin family

Sign Up today to be ready for the 2015 season

105 Baldwinville Road, Winchendon, MA 01475
978-400-8204
www.penguinracing.com