How MotoGP Riders Are Taking Body Position to New EXTREMES

Many riders will have some idea of how they can use their bodies to benefit performance, particularly when it comes to cornering positions. But in truth, many of those same riders will only be scratching the surface of what the very best are doing. When it comes to using the body to their advantage, modern MotoGP riders are taking things to a whole different level, not just in how they're hanging off the bike, but in how they use their bodies through every single section of a given racetrack. In this video, I'm going to highlight seven key techniques that the very best riders are using, as well as attempting to convey just what it takes to operate at that level. So let's just jump straight in and get into technique number one, the art of sitting up to start their braking. Now, this technique in itself won't be a surprise to anyone, as it's something that even novice track day riders are doing. That is until you learn just what these top guys are going through when doing it. One of the main reasons why they do it is because by becoming a human sail in the wind, it helps slow the bike down along with keeping the rear tire on the ground. This is hugely helpful in the biggest braking zones, and when you consider what they're dealing with in those moments, it's quite astonishing. On many circuits, the riders are now passing 220 miles an hour, with Mugello being the fastest at 227. If we assume a relatively calm day with little wind, that means riders are sitting up into a headwind of that speed. Then remember that at this exact moment, they're being asked to deal with the delicate task of getting the bike stopped from these incredible speeds in the shortest possible time. It's quite a feat. But this isn't the only extreme force acting against them in this period. With the introduction and improvement in aero packages, MotoGP bikes stop incredibly well, and riders are now experiencing as much as 2G in the biggest braking zones, with pretty much every circuit having at least one 1.5G braking zone, if not more. To put that into context, for an average weight GP rider, they're resisting around 160kg of force through the body for multiple seconds as they work to support their body weight, with 80-90kg at least going through the arms and wrists. Not to mention the many other braking zones that will generate forces close to that. That means riders are going through this experience potentially hundreds of times throughout the race. Ex-MotoGP rider Cal Crutchlow talked about this very experience some years ago. He said, You're as tense as you can possibly be and holding your breath for four or five seconds. Then you exhale as you make the transition into the corner. But the next corner might only be three or four seconds away, so you have to do the same thing all over again, then again, and again. And this is why they need to be upright, because they need a strong position with their upper body to resist that extreme weight that's going through the arms and wrists. The wrists do get some relief from the rest of the body, however, and that moves us on to technique number two, their lower body lock. During this phase, riders will be using their feet, legs, and core to create an extra layer of stability and relieve some of the pressure from the hands. They do this by locking their feet into the pegs, using their legs to push themselves back, and engaging their core to create maximum stability. What they're also doing is pushing themselves as far back in the seat as they can to move their weight to the rear of the bike, helping to stop it pivoting around the front axle and keeping the rear tire on the ground. Just another small detail to unlock a few percent extra braking potential. And this is an important point to note. Most amateur riders will know that you need to move side to side in the seat around the lap, but the very best are also moving forward and back too, sitting far back in the seat during braking, before allowing the braking forces to move them forward closer to the tank towards the end of braking, ready for their cornering position. These first two techniques alone show just how extreme the forces at play really are and how much energy riders are using to deal with it. And we haven't even got to the corners yet, but there's one more braking technique to talk about that has become commonplace in recent years. Technique number three is the leg dangle. While riders sometimes choose to adopt a more conventional approach of keeping both feet on the pegs, or even squeezing the tank with their knees at times, many more have taken to hanging the leg out during braking to help them in a number of ways. Some I'm sure you've already heard of. Things like lowering the rider center of gravity a little more, as well as creating an extra wind resistance on the inside of the bike, helping slow it down and pull it into the turn at corner entry. One interesting benefit you may not have heard of, however, comes from Brad Binder, and it's how it helps him countersteer the bike. He says, If I chuck my leg out, it makes the bike fall over a bit quicker because I have to lean more on my inside hand, which gives me more leverage to countersteer. It just helps me flick the bike into the corner and get onto the good part of the tire. Originally made popular by Valentino Rossi, the doctor's dangle as it was initially coined has become a mainstay to help the very best in the world unlock more fractions of potential in this part of the track. With those three techniques covering the biggest points during braking, now we're starting to get into corner entry and the first technique in this phase, Aggressive Entry Steering Where in previous eras, one of the biggest keys to speed was sweeping entry lines and high cornering speeds, now the fastest riders are doing everything they can to maximize a different part of the circuit, the straights. Now with ride height devices and extensive aero packages, these modern MotoGP machines are amazing at driving the rider forward and stopping them from great speed, and to make best use of those assets, cornering lines have started to change. As Aki Ayo, owner of the hugely successful Red Bull KTM Ayo squads puts it, if you can stop and also turn the bike in advance of the apex, then you can keep more corner speed and also prepare the exit in the best way possible. This is why the way riders enter corners has changed a lot in the last 5 or 10 years, now they focus on being quite aggressive to stop and turn the bike at the same time. In the past, this moment was much smoother, but now they're getting more and more aggressive and really using their bodies as a tool in this area. In simple terms, this means riders have moved from more sweeping lines to a more V-shaped line to get the bike into and out of corners quicker, while sacrificing as little corner speed as possible. And they do this by using the position of their bodies to balance the extreme forces going through the front end during braking, and more aggressively committing their bodies to the inside to help the bike turn once they're in the corner. And this moves us nicely onto technique number 5, the extreme hang off. We're seeing a trend where the best riders are the ones with the most extreme hang off positions. We're seeing this on TV for ourselves, but also it's backed up by riders too. Danilo Petrucci, a much-loved ex-MotoGP star, says Now the young riders really move a lot on the bike, with an incredible intensity. I touched my elbows on the ground, but the young guys are now making more exaggerated moves on the bike and this is the right way to go faster. When I started my career in MotoGP, it wasn't so important to do that. And they do this because it helps them lean the bike even less for a given speed, it helps the bike turn more, and we're also seeing some interesting developments in how this position is creating positive effects in combination with the aero packages. As two-time world championship winning crew chief Peter Baum shared on the Oxley Baum MotoGP podcast, through these extreme positions, riders are now able to positively disrupt the airflow through the aero package to improve front end grip and help the bike turn. And if you're interested in that point, I've gone into this in more detail in a previous video, which I'll link down in the description. But to bring it back to basics, we're seeing that the riders are getting more and more exaggerated with their mid-corner positions as another quest to unlock fractions of a second in another important area. And it must be said that this is something they're able to do because of the supreme stability these machines now have mid-corner. In bygone eras, we saw much more conservative positions, and one big reason why was to safeguard against one of the most terrifying events for a rider, the dreaded high side. Nowadays, bikes are so stable and far less likely to do this, so riders can attempt these positions to unlock more speed because the chances of it happening now are remote by comparison. And these techniques don't get any less extreme as we move to corner exit, moving us on to technique number six, the exit hang off. This technique isn't new by any means, with people like Casey Stoner being one of the riders to start the trend in modern MotoGP. Now, most riders will do everything they can to get the bike to stand up and drive out of the corner as early as possible without running out of racetrack in the process. By dropping their bodies deeper to the inside of the bike at corner exit and allowing the bike to stand up independently of them, they reduce the lean angle a little bit more while maintaining the ideal exit line, allowing for earlier and more powerful exit drive. It's actually a little less pronounced in present day MotoGP, but that's because they're already hanging off so far mid-corner. It's definitely something they're still doing though. And that brings us on to the final technique, number seven, body fitness and precision. Now, while not strictly a technique, the strength and stamina level these riders have is what allows them to do all these things we've just talked about. We touched on the extreme forces these riders have to deal with in the big braking zones, but it doesn't stop there. As mentioned by many riders nowadays, these bikes are becoming more and more difficult to steer. And in the fastest changes of direction, these guys are putting serious pressure through the bars to counter-steer the bike to get it to change direction. At the same time, there'll be massive pressure going through the legs as the riders work to support these extreme positions we're now seeing, as well as all the effort needed to move around through and between every corner while resisting the extreme forces acting against them. And on top of all of that, they need supreme levels of core strength and stability to perform and support these actions while at the same time operating the machine with a level of smoothness and precision that allows them to dance along the limits of grip without upsetting the bike and going past them. And they're doing all of this while sitting near their maximum heart rate for 40 minutes straight. Make no mistake, these are some of the fittest athletes on the planet, and the level of strength and fitness needed to be at the top is as high as it's ever been. By now, it should be clear that the riders of today are more active on the bike than ever before through every single part of a racetrack. And they're doing that to search for any tiny advantage they can get to help the bike stop, turn, and accelerate from the corners in the fastest way possible. Some amateur riders may be able to stand that physical test for a lap or two, but most wouldn't get anywhere close for a single corner, showing just what incredible levels these riders have achieved on their quest to stay at the front of the pack. But this is just what they're doing with their bodies. If you want to learn what pro riders are doing with the bike to go fast, check out this video here. It's an approach that may surprise you. What are your thoughts on modern MotoGP riding positions? And have you tried any of these techniques for yourself? Let me know in the comments down below. But outside of that, thank you so much for joining me for this one, and I will see you in the next one. Take care.