MotoGP
Here's how MotoGP riders race in the rain
As soon as conditions get damp, the risk of riding increases dramatically and most ordinary bikers wet themselves. But MotoGP riders are made of sterner stuff. Here’s how they get a grip in the wet.
In the rain, the experienced street biker will steer well clear of anything colourful as wet road markings like zebra crossings can be as slippery as ice.
So why is it that MotoGP riders can ride over brightly coloured surfaces in the wet, leaning over at a 45-degree angle and not come a cropper?
The Red Bull Ring’s clerk of the course, Race Director Andi Meklau, explains: “We use a special paint process colour that offers the same amount of grip under all conditions.”
With bikes lined up in team order, techs fit the rain tyres in the paddock
© Jörg Mitter
So why don’t they use this kind of paint on every public road around the world? Well, because it’s very expensive. The cost for painting the track markings at the Red Bull Ring alone runs into six-figures.
Before the Austrian MotoGP, a leading rider expressed concern that the track could be slippery in the wet because of the rubber put down during the two Formula One Grands Prix.
But Meklau is quick to reassure the riders: “The entire track surface was deep cleaned before the MotoGP: it’s as grippy as if it was a brand-new surface. And thanks to the sophisticated drainage and surface gradient, water runs off quickly.
“We’ve also taken away the slippery strips of grass behind the kerbs and replaced them with asphalt, and painted it green. And at Turn 10, we’ve narrowed the track by three meters to gain extra run-off space.”
Rain tyres fitted to Miguel Oliveira's Tech 3 KTM
© Jörg Mitter
Of course, the tyres are crucial to racing in the rain. Michelin has brought two wet compounds to Spielberg with the harder tyre to be used at higher temperatures and the softer at lower temperatures.
At 300km/h, a Michelin MotoGP tyre displaces four litres of water from the track per second
“The front tyre is symmetrical and the rear one asymmetrical,” explains Motorbike motorsport manager Piero Taramasso. “On clockwise circuits, like the Red Bull Ring, the right side of the rear tyre is harder than the left.”
The temperature has a big effect on grip and tyre choice. MotoGP rain tyres work perfectly at the front at 75 degrees and at the rear at 90 degrees – a standard tyre on a road bike gets to about 40 degrees in the wet. And they are ridden with a higher tyre pressure than slicks because “pressure means temperature,” says Taramasso. At 300km/h, a Michelin MotoGP tyre displaces four litres of water from the track per second.
The other crucial factor is how the bike is set up. Every corner has an ideal lean angle in the wet, which is worked out in long de-briefs. At the Red Bull Ring Turns one, three and four are approached at a steeper angle than in the dry, but the rest as smoothly as possible. To make this possible, the engine power is reduced by about 30% in the lower gears. That’s as much power as they can handle in the wet, despite all the optimisation.
So if the surface is pristine, the bike is fitted with the correct tyres and the engine is tuned perfectly, what happens if a rider still loses control in the wet and falls?
“The further back he is in the field, the more likely it was due to the tyre,” laughs Taramasso.
On clockwise circuits the right side of the rear tyre is harder
© Jörg Mitter