A Lesson In Riding A MotoGP Bike, By Pramac Ducati
Riding a motorcycle quickly isn’t easy, which makes it all the more inspiring to watch those who have mastered the art. It’s always fun watching and analyzing quicker riders, but personally, I’ve long been interested in what the best riders in the world do with their feet. Other than the Rossi leg dangle, not much attention gets paid to a MotoGP rider’s lower half – we’re all too busy watching everyone get their elbow down – but there are three very important points on the lower body we should be paying attention to: the butt, and both feet.
In this video shared by the Pramac Ducati MotoGP team, we see team riders Danilo Petrucci (top and bottom right) and Scott Redding (bottom left) lap the Jerez circuit. More importantly, we’re seeing in the top view how Petrucci shifts his body weight before entering a corner. Meanwhile the two bottom views show how quickly Petrucci gets his downshifts out of the way (reverse shift pattern, remember), and how and when Redding applies the rear brake.
The entire body is busy during a MotoGP race, especially one at a short track like Jerez where there’s not much time to rest, and this video serves as a great learning tool to show that it’s not just the arms and upper body doing the grunt work when riding a motorcycle around a racetrack.
Troy's been riding motorcycles and writing about them since 2006, getting his start at Rider Magazine. From there, he moved to Sport Rider Magazine before finally landing at Motorcycle.com in 2011. A lifelong gearhead who didn't fully immerse himself in motorcycles until his teenage years, Troy's interests have always been in technology, performance, and going fast. Naturally, racing was the perfect avenue to combine all three. Troy has been racing nearly as long as he's been riding and has competed at the AMA national level. He's also won multiple club races throughout the country, culminating in a Utah Sport Bike Association championship in 2011. He has been invited as a guest instructor for the Yamaha Champions Riding School, and when he's not out riding, he's either wrenching on bikes or watching MotoGP.
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I notice Jonathon Rea got his Kawasaki super bike around Jerez faster than Valentino's pole pace . for the 2016 moto GP. Have the moto-GP bikes been so neutered that they are no longer the fastest. Does Bruce Allen read these blogs, during his winter break. I guess he is knee deep in Eggnog or Honda sponsored snaps. But I wonder if Rea can be an Alien without having a ride in the "Premier class"?