A drag strip is 400m (1/4 mile) long. However, your performance over the first 20 meters is crucial because that’s where you, the rider, can make a difference before it comes down to the bike, the power it makes, aerodynamics and what your opponent is doing for the rest of the 400m strip. You want a clean, hard launch without wheel spin or a wheelie and good drag racers will know within the first 20 meters if they’re on a good run or not.

Most of these principals can be transferred to the more common robot-to-robot dashes we love so much. So please read on even if you’re not planning to go near a drag strip, it’s always fun to blow off that pimply faced teenager in his hot hatch.

A good launch - low controlled wheelie and excellent body position

Here’s what you need to know to master the art.
1 The Burn-out and “dry-hop”
You need to know exactly what to expect from your bike when you launch, and it changes from day to day, even hour to hour depending on track and atmospheric conditions. The dry-hop (a practice launch) is your chance to see how your bike is working. After your burn-out, bring the revs up (3500 rpm for a big bike, 7000rpm for a 600), drop the clutch and see what happens. When you drop the clutch, the revs come down. To get a fast launch you need enough revs so you don’t have to slip the clutch to much to keep the bike in the power. You can practice (some) of this whenever you get an opportunity. Like a red robot!

2 Staging
Obviously you don’t need to stage at a robot, so this part is track only. At a robot, just try to be between cars because if you miss a gear and your opponent is right behind you, you’ll be squashed like a ripe grape.
Keep the bike in neutral and stage it with your feet – it lets the clutch cool down. Remember to shift back into first (fnar). You can stage hollow (back so the staged light is just tripped) or deep. Be careful if staging deep as you can red light easily. Sometimes just moving the handlebars can cause you to red light because you’re sitting right on the beam.

3 Body Position
You need to fight the front end’s urge to wheelie, especially on a Sportsbike, so your weight needs to be forward. But don’t lie on the bike, just lean forward leaving space between you and the tank so you have space to move and correct if you need to during the launch (the rider in the photo has an excellent body peosotopn). Keep your feet back in the launch position, behind the pegs. Try to launch with both feet on the ground. Keep two fingers on the clutch, holding it on the edge of the friction zone so it engages immediately you want it too. Keep your right hand up so it’s easy to roll on the throttle. Most importantly, keep your eyes on the tree (or robot). Both eyes. When you see then last yellow light (or green light…), you need to dump the clutch so you’ll be moving by the time you look in front of you.

4 The Tree
Keep your eyes open and on the tree. Then you see the last yellow light, go. Don’t try to anticipate it unless you’ve practiced on that tree (the delays differ), because if you jump the lights you’re disqualified. As for cutting a good light, anything from 0,420 (reaction time) seconds down is good. Cutting a perfect light is dumb luck.
On the street it’s easier because the timing is pretty much always the same and you have the added bonus of usually being able to see the opposite lights go through their sequence. Just before you dump that clutch, take a quick look left and right for other vehicles jumping the red light. It’s embarrassing being taken out by an eighteen wheeler for no apparent reason other than trying to show people something EVERYONE knows (bikes are faster than cars)

5 The Launch
Easy, drop the clutch and hold on tight. On a Sportsbike it’s all about keeping the front down. If it wheelies, drag the clutch or back off the throttle, but not too much. The farther you let the clutch out with the wheel staying on the ground, the more throttle you can use. The only time you should back off the throttle is when the wheel comes up, and you need to get back on it the moment it touches down again. Then shutting down the throttle, try using more clutch to keep the revs up to try and save the run because your opponent will have a definite advantage at this stage.

6 The first 20 meters.
As it is, the first 20 meters are all about working the clutch and throttle to put down as much power as possible without wheelying. It’s only a second and a half and it goes by fast. It’s also around the time you need to start thinking of shifting and it’s all up to the bike and your shift points after that.