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FEATURE<br />
FILLMORE: “I’M COMPETITIVE AND I LIKE PUSHING THE LIMIT<br />
OF THINGS AND FEELING LIKE I AM A LITTLE BIT ON THE EDGE. I<br />
LIKE TO DO THINGS THAT SCARE ME. IT OPENS ME UP AND LETS<br />
ME LIVE A BIT. IT’S HOW I ENJOY EXPERIENCING LIFE.”<br />
As the afternoon goes on the<br />
confidence rises, as does the<br />
appreciation for how road racers<br />
go about their task. It is<br />
also easy to comprehend how<br />
the lightest gesture of braking,<br />
positioning or acceleration can<br />
alter fractions of a second of<br />
a lap-time. As for the racing<br />
itself I didn’t come close to<br />
overtaking anybody all day, so<br />
that’s another aspect that remains<br />
undiscovered. Chopping<br />
up the track into sections and<br />
working out which areas feel<br />
slow or harder compared to<br />
others – instead of just riding<br />
around and around - becomes<br />
part of the routine. Bizarrely<br />
it starts to feel a bit like tennis<br />
or golf: a process of hitting<br />
a few good shots, followed<br />
by fist-gnawing ineptitude.<br />
“That’s a pretty good analogy<br />
actually,” McWilliams says.<br />
“What makes a good circuit<br />
rider? Somebody who is very<br />
consistent, very smooth and<br />
learns good throttle control.<br />
A lot of things you don’t learn<br />
for the road you must for the<br />
circuit, like brake management<br />
and how hard you can pull it<br />
and how hard you can push<br />
the front tyre into the turn,<br />
how much throttle you give<br />
when you are in the turn. A lot<br />
of guys will go into a road turn<br />
and opening the throttle when<br />
they want to get out: that’s<br />
not what we do and not how<br />
we go faster, it’s the opposite<br />
actually and our rolling speed<br />
is much higher than it would<br />
ever be on-road. It’s another<br />
level.”
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