FIM R3 bLU cRU World Cup: The Fastest Classroom on Earth!

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'Please remove the sticker from your front tyre!' These are the final words of FIM R3 bLU cRU World Cup series director Gianluca Montiron as the class of 2024 heads for the Catalunya pit lane. These are youngsters in a hurry.

What if you were desperate to race, but weren't quite sure how to go about it? What if you didn't know anyone who competed? What if nobody in your family raced? How do you start? Where do you go? Racing is hard enough as it is, without it being shrouded in mystery. What's more, apart from being hard, it's expensive too. 

When it comes to motorbike racing, there's no way around it – its a tough sport that takes both significant finance and a support team. For a teenager with big goals, the barriers to international competition are particularly daunting. For the parents of aspiring track stars, the challenge can be just as great. Of course, some novices have family who already know what a waved yellow flag means. For others however, the world of bike racing is completely opaque. Even when the pathway through the big leagues seems 'obvious,' negotiating the steps to the top of the racing pyramid is tricky.

Which is where Yamaha Motor Europe’s bLU cRU racing project, which spans both road and off-road racing disciplines, fits in. With an eye on the future, Yamaha’s racing department has stepped up to lend a hand, from the rider who doesn't know their preload from their rebound to the parent wondering what tyre pressure works best on a drying track. The benefit of the bLU cRU family is that there's someone on hand to guide riders (and parents) along every stage. 

Run over 12 races held at six rounds of the World superbike championship, the FIM R3 bLU cRU World Cup is open to anyone aged 14 to 20. All the riders have to do is turn up. From helmet to race leathers, back protectors, tyres, tyre warmers to – of course – their own race-prepared Yamaha R3, everything is waiting for them to go racing.

Imagine being a rookie rider and having former MotoGP crew chief Giovanni Sandi in your pit box? If you were a parent, you'd be a lot happier being able to ask Montiron, a manager with 25 years of superbike and MotoGP history, for career guidance. 

There are technicians working on the bLU cRU R3 bikes who have experience at every racing level. Oh yes, and the series is contested on some of Europe's most exciting circuits – at Catalunya, Assen and Misano to name but three. All in all, it's easy to see the appeal, whether you are hanging on to the handlebars or a parent on the start-finish straight hanging on to a pit board. 

In another part of the bLU cRU village – located right in the heart of the WorldSBK paddock – 2004 European superstock champion Lorenzo Alfonsi is explaining to his enthusiastic flock – for at least the tenth time – that not every session is a race. “The first practice sessions should be about just getting a feel for the bike, about the best line through the corners, being in the right gear for each corner but, you know...” sighs Alfonso, “they're young,” and he knows he'll have to tell them again. And again, and again...

None of which dampens Alfonsi's enthusiasm. “At the training session I was going over the data with a rider and said to him, 'You could try fourth gear rather than third in those corners. So he went out and tried it and went 0.8s faster. He came back and said 'Oh that was great advice... but don't tell any of the other riders, OK.' I just laughed, because of course I have to give help to everyone.” 

And what does he struggle most with to get through to them? Lorenzo laughs. “That they shouldn't mess about in pitlane. No stoppies, don't try to wheelie, don't do practice starts after the chequered flag. Ohhh, no stoppies though! I tell them they are dangerous if someone is coming in behind them, they say 'OK, of course,' then do one next day and the race controller of the circuit calls, 'Lorenzo and rider 88 to race control.' And they get a fine which, obviously, their parents end up paying.” 

Lorenzo is part big brother, part father-figure to the riders and his experience over the years, both as a rider and with the bLU cRU means his input is invaluable. Before each round, on Thursday evening, he takes the riders on a track walk. Like the Pied Piper of Hamelin, he leads a band of youngsters around the circuit, answering questions and pointing out bumps and braking points.

“It's funny now, because many riders come having watched YouTube videos and done laps on Playstations, but the track walk is still important, there are things you can only see and feel when you walk the circuit, though the riders always complain about having to walk!”

In our data-driven world, it's no surprise that the bLU cRU have access to some very specific numbers. We're not just talking lap times, or even sector times, though the riders get those live on their dash boards. The R3 race bikes are fitted with an array of sensors that help bLU cRU staff analyse what's going on as the riders try to shave tenths of seconds from lap times. There aren't many riders who understand data-logging traces, which is why there are technicians like Sergi Bonat on hand.

“There are throttle position sensors – is the rider at 100 per cent? There's GPS to show us where exactly the rider is on track, there are accelerometers, gyroscope, brake pressure, rear wheel speed as well as engine sensors to check the 'health' of the engine,” explains Bonat. “We concentrate on only a few metrics to help the riders – like corner apex speed, gear and revs in specific corners – which helps them improve lap times.”

In truth, some riders racing at the highest levels still struggle with data and understanding their bike's behaviour, so the bLU cRU technicians are starting an education that will be useful as racing careers progress. Sometimes you have to race with your head, and the sooner young riders learn and understand this, the better.

But even with the best advice and set up, racing will never – ever – go smoothly all the time. As was noted, racing is hard and things will go wrong. Which is where the bLU cRU family really shows its worth. Rather than sitting alone in a garage with your head spinning, wondering what you should do next, there are experts ready to pick you up, dust you down and put you on the right track again.

At the start of the season briefing, when Gianluca Montiron stood up and explained to everyone that, although the riders in front of him were “on the first steps of a ladder that Yamaha had designed” and that they were “the future of racing in this superbike paddock” it was clear that the bLU cRU project was about much more than that day's podium finishes and lap times. There is no part of the racing endeavour that is ignored. A young rider needs to know about training, diet and fitness and social media as well as race craft and race skills Where else is a teenager going to find such an all-round racing education? The bLU cRU doesn't claim to be a finishing school, but as preparation for a life in racing, its better than the school of hard knocks.