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  • When watching a Moto GP race race on TV or in person, it can be hard to appreciate just

  • how much riding technique and technology that goes behind riding a motorcycle at that level.

  • For the average spectator, a lot of the technical talk around the motorcycles setups, and riding

  • techniques is just a bunch of gibberish. But there is something that most spectators tend

  • to notice though, which is that the riders all have slightly different riding styles.

  • Over the history of motorcycle racing, these differences in riding style have often been

  • controversial, and surely lot of heated debates have gone down over a couple of beers with

  • the friends after watching the races.

  • So in todays Speed & Noise episode we will explore how the modern day Moto GP riding

  • styles came to be.

  • The very first production series motorcycle sold was the 1894 German Hildebrand & Wolfmüller,

  • and a couple of years later the first motorcycle races were held in France. These races eventually

  • developed into Grand Prix racing, held at both purpose built race tracks and on regular

  • roads, which would be the basis for modern Moto GP racing.

  • One of the most famous road races started in 1907, called the 'International Auto-Cycle Tourist

  • Trophy', today known as the Isle of Man TT.

  • The very first distinctive riding style of those earlier years was used by successful

  • British racer Freddie Frith, 1909-1988, who leaned his body out from the corners. Yes

  • that is right, he leaned out from the bike. Or in other words, the opposite of how modern

  • day Moto GP bikes are ridden. During these early years successful Italian

  • racer Tazio Nuvolari, 1892-1953, used the same style of riding winning Grand Prix races

  • in Italy on his 350cc Bianchi motorcycle.

  • So why exactly did Freddie and Tazio lean out from the corner? There is no reliable

  • source quoting them, but John Surtees, four time Motorcycle World champion of the 1950s,

  • wrote in his 1960s booklet that: “My theory is that each style is appropriate to its time.

  • Pre-war racing machines had larger wheels, a higher center of gravity, and a high, compact

  • riding position. These factors combined to demand more physical effort for banking the

  • machine from side to side, and the effort naturally tended to push the rider's body

  • the other way.”

  • Indeed John was right about the machines of that time, they had large 21 inch wheels and

  • a very high center of gravity. Just have a look at this 1929 350 CC Velocette that Freddie

  • rode during his first Isle of man TTs.

  • Another reason to lean outwards on these motorcycles were that they had rigid frames, with no rear

  • suspension, which made them wobble laterally when leaned over. By forcing the bike to lean

  • over the chassis were allowed to flex, which gave some in-corner suspension.

  • The tendency to wobble also meant that using a forceful counter steering maneuver could

  • result in a crash when entering the corners. So the riders had to use quite a bit of strength

  • to lean the motorcycles over. So just as Surtees mentioned, by leaning out, they could push

  • the bikes beneath them.

  • The next really distinctive riding style in Grand Prix racing was popularized by British

  • racer Geoff Duke,1923-2015, multiple road racing world champion.

  • His then progressive style was toBe with the bike”, always centered in the saddle

  • with his upper body at the same angle of lean as the machineAs the years passed, he became

  • known for his view that the coming knee-down, slide-to-the-inside stylejust a fad that

  • will pass.” Kel Carruthers said this about Duke: “For

  • his time, Duke's style was progressive. Before him, many riders leaned the bike but

  • kept themselves more upright.”

  • Dukes first success came abroad a 1950 Manx Norton, a motorcycle that had a twin-loop

  • chassis as well as hydraulic front and rear suspension. The engine of the Norton was also

  • significantly lower down as compared to the older bikes. All of this contributed to a

  • bike that was easier to lean over.

  • So Duke was able to maintain a centered position when leaning the bike over, since he was not

  • required to use as much force as the riders of the previous generations. Sitting centered

  • on the bike at all times had a big advantage: Lowering aerodynamic drag. Considering the

  • low power output of the machines of that era, it is not a big surprise that this riding

  • style was so successful at the time

  • On a side note, Duke was also responsible for popularizing the one-piece leather suit

  • for racing. Which he developed with a local tailor, with the purpose of minimizing aerodynamic

  • drag.

  • During the 1950s and into the 60s, the tires used for racing were all-weather drainage

  • grooved tires made out of hard rubber, which was the only rubber that would last for a

  • full race.

  • So with the limited grip of the hard rubber, everything had to be done very gradual. John

  • Surtees wrote in his 1960s booklet: “The best line is that which takes you through

  • a corner at the highest possible speed in one smooth sweep.” This style would for

  • years be called 'cornering as if on rails'. During this same time, the cornering speeds

  • were increasing and with it came steeper lean angles. Eventually the lean angles achieved

  • made the exhaust pipe and foot pegs hit the ground, because of this several riders started

  • hanging slightly off to the inside, among those John Surtees, who wrote: “The idea

  • is to keep the machine as upright as possible for maximum traction. That way, I can use

  • more power and speed in a bend than if I stay in line with the machine or lean outward;

  • for I would then have to put the machine itself down a little farther, and that would mean

  • easing the throttle to keep the back wheel from breaking away.”

  • This style of riding was adopted and perfected during the 1960s into the 1970s by two of

  • the most famous motorcycle racers in history, namely Mike Hailwood,1940-1981, with 9 World

  • championship titles and Giacomo Agostini,1942, with 15 World championship titles.

  • During champion years of Ago' and Hailwood, less famous riders were working on a new riding

  • style to improve their cornering speed, and by the beginning of the 1970s this new style

  • of leaning into the corners was emerging. This new style was to point the inside knee

  • into the corner, as well as leaning into it.

  • Who actually invented the knee down technique is not entirely obvious. According to some

  • articles it was Finnish rider Jarno Saarinen,1945-1973, who invented the technique. Other sources

  • point towards British racers John Cooper, 1938, and Paul Smart, 1943, who appear to

  • be riding with their knees out it several pictures from 1970s motorcycle magazines.

  • Although it is unclear who first invented the technique, the racer who would popularize

  • it was American racer Kenny Roberts, 1951. Roberts had observed Saarinen's knee down

  • technique during a race at Ontario Motor Speedway. He copied the style and began exaggerating

  • the motion, moving his body even further into the turn.

  • Because his knee would actually hid the ground while cornering, Roberts started using duct

  • tape as knee pads so that he could slide his knee on the ground. This eventually led to

  • the introduction of purpose built knee pucks, used by all motorcycle road racers today.

  • This was not the only new riding style Roberts popularized. He had learned to race on dirt,

  • where traction is limited and turns are negotiated by breaking the rear wheel loose and steering

  • the bike with the rear wheel.

  • Roberts experience with dirt riding and the introduction of powerful two stroke engines,

  • that gave power suddenly and not progressively, mounted in under dimensioned chassis, led

  • him to use a technique known today as: 'point and shoot'. This means to get the bike turned

  • early in the corner, then lift it up to plant the back tire for maximum acceleration out

  • of the corner

  • After Roberts came several bar raisers, who replicated and perfected his style. Among

  • those were Americans Freddy Spencer,1961, and Eddie Lawson, 1958, as well as Australian

  • Wayne Gardner, 1959.

  • Eventually the old arching riding styles became relevant again because of technological innovation

  • in chassis design and 'big bang' engines, which allowed for a more linear power delivery.

  • This led to a battle between of styles, with some riders using 'point and shoot', while

  • others utilized a 'riding-on-rails' style.

  • Leading into the 90s one of the most dominant racers were Australian Mick Doohan, 1965.

  • Doohan ended up winning 5 World championships in the premier class.

  • His line style was that of 'point and shoot' but his body position was something no one

  • had successfully used earlier or ever since. He sat crossed up, pushing his lower body

  • far out on the bike but not following with his upper body. Doohan slowly changed this

  • body position over the years to a more conventional one.

  • If you are in any way interested in motorcycle racing, you know who is up next. Valentino

  • Rossi, 1979, 9 times Grand Prix World champion, who just like Ago' and King Kenny changed

  • the game completely.

  • What was so special about Rossi's style, is that his style is to be flexible, or in

  • other words he adapts how he rides to the machinery, the track, the competition and

  • the tires. He could both rail around corners, or back it in sideways, whatever resulted

  • in being the fastest, Rossi would do.

  • Several bar raisers emerged during Rossi's champion years, who would eventually beat

  • him, among those Spaniard Jorge Lorenzo, 1987, and Australian Casey Stoner, 1985.

  • As Rossi, Lorenzo and Stoner were raising the bar riding style wise, the engineers were

  • working hard on electronic traction control and tire technology.

  • This development saw the emerging of a new game changing style, that of Spaniard Marc

  • Marquez, 1993. 

  • He seems to have endless bravery and bravado as he slides the front wheel hard into corners,

  • something that would have resulted in an instant crash only a few years ago. When Marquez came

  • in and won Moto GP in his rookie year, he came in riding the bike with no pre-conception

  • of what should be possible, and thus he created a completely new style of riding with extreme

  • lean angles, pushing the tires harder than ever before seen.

  • So with that, the story of how the Moto GP riding styles have emerged is complete, but

  • only for now. Since there will always be new styles emerging from game changers in the

  • future.

  • If you liked this video and want to see more, then please subscribe to the channel. Also

  • please leave a comment with any feedback you have, and if you have ideas about more subjects

  • that you want me to talk about

  • If you want to support the channel, the best way to do that is to share this video on social

  • media, and liking it.

  • As always, thank you for watching, and see you next time.

When watching a Moto GP race race on TV or in person, it can be hard to appreciate just

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MotoGP騎行風格的演變--從外傾到肘部拖動。 (Evolution of MotoGP Riding Styles - From Leaning Out to Elbow Dragging)

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    kstmasa 發佈於 2021 年 01 月 14 日
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