Alpinestars Hosts Friends And Family Track Day 2019

Alpinestars hosted a motorcycle trackday for its friends and family at Willow Springs International Raceway in the Southern California desert last week. Its sponsored athletes from various racing disciplines, including motocross, off-road rally, freestyle, cycling, and of course roadracing, came to drag a knee and experience the thrill of riding sportbikes around Willow's ultra-fast nine-turn 2.5-mile road course.

Related: Tips To Survive Your First Motorcycle Trackday

"It's my first time riding streetbikes," two-time East Coast 250SX champ and current Yamaha factory 450 racer Justin Barcia said, smiling. "It's quite the experience. Ben [Spies] was in front of me and that helped so much. I was able to pick up lines and find my braking points. I'm still a little bit stiff—trying to do elbows up like moto," he added, laughing.

“It’s cool because I’m using my legs a little more, which I feel will go into moto as well,” he replied when asked how riding streetbikes compares to his full-time gig of hitting Supercross triples. “But it’s so different. The speed, braking points, and trusting the tires. When you put in a lot of pressure on the front brakes it holds.”

“He picked up the pace quick,” MotoAmerica Superbike racer Josh Herrin said. “Within four laps he [Barcia] was dragging his knee; I like listening to people that have never ridden road bikes describe their experience. Especially a guy like Barcia who is super fast on a dirt bike.”

"It was my first time out here riding a crotch rocket," off-road rally racer Ricky Brabec said with glee. Brabec, who nearly won this year's Dakar race before the engine failed, made his road debut on Honda's 160-hp CBR1000RR.

“I’ve always seen it on TV, so it was great to finally get to try it. I’m figuring out the flow. Where to lean, where to brake, and where to sit up. There’s no slip on this track—it’s all traction so it’s wild how low you can get on these bikes.”

Roadracing veterans, including Formula Xtreme champ and Daytona 200 winner Jake Zemke, was on hand doling out pro tips to help less experienced riders get up to speed.

“I’ve been with Alpinestars for 14 years now,” Zemke recalled. “I remember telling my manager back in the day, ‘I don’t care what you do, just get me in Alpinestars.’ At the time we were going 200 mph in the tri-oval at Daytona. So obviously, I wanted the best, safest equipment—and Alpinestars offers that.”

AMA and World Superbike champ Ben Spies also dusted off his leathers and swung a leg around a Yamaha YZF-R1M.

“Honestly when I raced, me and Casey [Stoner] were the type [who] didn’t like doing these things because we were so focused on racing,” Spies chuckled. “Now these are some of the best days on bikes. It’s great to ride with the folks that supported me through my racing career. People forget that we had zero of these fun kind of days growing up. It was always fast-fast. It was a blast today.”

“I haven’t had an opportunity to do a ride day in a lot of years,” summed up two-time MotoGP champ Casey Stoner, who just happened to be in the States for a friend’s wedding in Idaho. “So to get a chance to hang out with friends and ride on a track is a very rare thing. I’ve been with them for a long time. It’s been a great journey, watching them move the mark forward.”