“You try to get yourself in the mental state of the others: where their tyres are, where your tyres are. You are weighing up many things that you don’t actually have control over. You are doing that mathematical calculation in your head: is it enough? Can I make it to the end? Can I sustain this pace? Can they sustain it?”
“When you push and you get something in return then that always feels good,” says Miller’s former team-mate and current KTM racer Brad Binder. “There is nothing worse than pushing more and more – as much as you will go – and having the same outcome. I love looking deep into things and finding those last couple of tenths.”
The conscious awareness feeds into unconscious actions. MotoGP riders have already mastered their own personal domain of course. Their ability, balance and co-ordination as well as intimate judgement of what their bike is capable of. Evidence of this? Look how the technical package is frequently pushed to the speed of race winning lap-times of the previous season during the first few minutes of a grand prix weekend. It’s an amazing and overlooked feat.
MotoGP ergonomics are personalised and refined to the last centimetre. Factories use wind tunnels for optimisation and even request that riders have the latest versions of their suits, helmets, boots and gloves to help with the calculations. Perhaps the most extreme example of the bodywork sculpture is the elongated tank form on Jorge Martin’s Aprilia. It’s a structure that assists the diminutive 2024 world champion to manipulate and grip the motorcycle with his limbs for his spectacular shoulder scraping style. Riders will also have a myriad of buttons and levers for everything from engine mapping and braking alteration, pitlane speed limiters, anti-wheelie, ride height devices, thumb-operated rear brakes (for those sections where it might not be so simple to apply their right foot). The motorcycle is chiselled for them. Some even have preferences for the material of the handlebar grips. “Maybe for Aragon I will try to change the grips or the brake lever or something there because I am still having a bit of pain from the surgery,” said Pedro Acosta, who had a procedure for carpal tunnel syndrome in late June, “but my [feeling in the] fingers are completely fine.”
The sculpted tank on Jorge Martin’s Aprilia contrasts with the more conventional form on Marco Bezzecchi’s bike
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In terms of physique, MotoGP riders are ripped but lithe, strong but unmuscular. Their fitness and cardio is that of a dedicated athlete because adrenaline surges the heart rate to peak levels. “You don’t need to be ridiculously strong,” claims Binder. “What you do need is really good endurance fitness because as soon as you start to get a little bit tired then that’s when you make mistakes. Mistakes kill you in this sport at the end of the day.”
“The gap between first and 20th means you can be the fastest dude in the world but if you are slow for a couple of laps then you won’t get across that line where you want to be. You have to be able to manage yourself so that you don’t ‘blow up’, but then we ride a lot…so we learn good technique and use our legs and other means when we feel any fatigue. A track can be demanding for all the changes of direction, so you know you might bleed in those sections but then on the straight you can recoup.”
“The first thing you’ll notice – if you’ve been in a race – is around your triceps: they’ll be sore,” the South African reveals. “I never struggled with my back – lower or upper – and the only pain I’ve had in that area might be the lats and the forearms. Those are the main areas where I feel my body is pulling amps. You can work in the gym until you are blue in the face but, somehow, it is not the same. The only way to train the forearms is to ride, and for me the best way is always motocross.”
The only way to train your forearms for bike racing is to ride, says Binder
Gold & Goose via Red Bull
For the last ten years MotoGP has evolved with a set of certain technical parameters: 1000cc engines, Michelin tyres, increasing aerodynamic load, mass dampers and then performance hikes like ride height and holeshot devices. The bikes have become more regimented in their behaviour but heavier to handle. The tell-tale two-inch scar on riders’ forearms for arm-pump or carpal tunnel surgery are now like gang insignia. The physical load will change for 2027 with the much toted change to 850s, less aero, zero devices and Pirellis.
At Silverstone ailing Red Bull KTM Tech3 rider Maverick Viñales was temporarily replaced by KTM test rider Pol Espargaró. The Spaniard has made wildcard outings the last two seasons since semi-retirement in 2023 (with top ten results) but the British GP was his first MotoGP call this year and interrupted his work on the new version of the RC16. The 35-year-old was unequivocal on how 2027 will scramble the job for MotoGP racers. His sentiments also illustrate the level of accomplishments that were being achieved at massive lean and more than 220mph in England.
“You cannot believe how much the category will change next year,” Pol predicted. “To jump back to the 1000 and the Michelins for me now; it’s another world. I am used to riding the 1000 bike for many years, and [now] I feel like a rookie. I feel like I need to understand again the time distance in every corner, like braking points, stopping efficiency, the lines where you touch the throttle and where you end up. From fourth gear on, this bike is insane, the torque is insane and it’s something that you need to integrate and normalise.”
“At the moment I’m super stressed, because all the inputs are coming too fast,” he said on Friday in the UK. In contrast, the 850s are looser, lighter, freer. “I can do two races in a row! It’s much, much less physical,” Pol said. “With the 1000 bike, after two laps the heart rate is so high. The level of the current 1000 bikes with the Michelin, it’s brutal. I feel that any amateur with a high level of riding could ride the [850] bike to a certain speed. But no one can ride a MotoGP with the Michelins. It’s impossible.”