[Video] Troy Corser on an average track day is surprisingly soothing | GRR
If you owned a special edition track-ready superbike, what would you really want to do with it? Obviously the first answer is “ride it on track” but we reckon there’s a pretty good alternative – give it to a genuine world champion to see what he can do.
Which is exactly what happened one day in Greece at the Serres Circuit, when a brave bike owner handed his Ducati 748 over to none-other than Goodwood favourite Troy Corser to see exactly what he could do.
The answer, it seems, is hurl this lightweight Italian machine around with abandon for ten beautiful minutes.
There’s a few sighter laps at the beginning, and then Troy has to dispatch some of the, er, less professionally qualified riders before he can really get on it, so jump to about three minutes in to see the Ducati really beginning to stretch its legs.
The thing that surprised us in this clip is just how deep the 748’s v-twin engine sounds as it revs to north of 10,000rpm. Never a totally screaming banshee, but more a refined growl.
What didn’t surprise us is just how often Troy finds himself passing the other riders on track. Those who have seen him dismantle the field in the Goodwood Revival’s Barry Sheene Memorial Trophy will be familiar with this sight, although no doubt some of the riders may have been a little surprised.
The final point to note is just how easily this all seems. Corser never seems to be totally ringing the neck of the Ducati in order to extract performance that the others cannot. But then that’s probably partly because of how lovely a machine the 748 is, and large parts the fact that we’re talking about one of the most talented riders in history. He’s simply got the ability and comfort to lean the the bike in more than anyone else. Altogether it’s not an exhilarating watch, more a lovely therapy.
Welcome to Goodwood Elevenses, a helping of motoring-related amusement to help break up your day. Watch the last video: This Ferrari V12 is what F1 should sound like