Printable View
Back to the issue of rider weight....
...and I see no good reason to bias weight. Smaller riders have the advantage of acceleration and a tiny speed advantage, but have to rely on less body weight to control the bike and ultimatly less tractive weight.
Bloomin' PC. since when was sport about fair play?? Get the advantage and keep it!!! :D
Bit of an update, I was watching a re-run of the MotoGP race from Jerez over lunch today and Julian Ryder and Neil Spalding did comment on Simoncelli having to run a leaner fuel map than some of the other Honda riders due to being heavier (he's 72kg) and needing more throttle to get the same acceleration. Stoner and Lorenzo weigh about 60kg apiece and Rossi's 67kg. Pedrosa's a weeny 50kg I think. In that case I can't see Simoncelli complaining if they add 20kg of ballast to Pedrosa's bike.... :-?
After watching the last race at Jerez the weather conditions played a big part. Don't need to add weight.
Can't see Simoncelli, Spies or Edwards complaining too much if they do add weight
Christ I would be buggered then running in at 84kg
Quote:
Originally Posted by noisy_lightning
Lightweight, I crack the scales at 96Kg ;D ;D
That makes you 1.92 Pedrosas, Hedwig... ;)
You could compare it to horse racing. I really don't know a lot about it, but they all look like midgets and must weigh the same as a child. It obviously makes a difference in that sport. I guess because bikes are powered by pistons rather than hooves, rider weight doesn't make as much of a difference?
Can't imagine this happening with bike racing tbh although, obviously, rider weight does have relevance to acceleration but a lighter rider is at some disadvantage on bends..........ridiculous idea ::)
The weights apportioned in horse racing are relevant to form and finishing place in different quality races like Grade 1, Championship, Grade 2, etc......... a bizarre thing is that a Grand National winner that then competes in a low quality hurdle race could theoretically be allotted the lowest minimum weight if it had not raced over hurdles before or its form over them was poor.. Don't Push It in the recent National had only been in hurdle races since his win the previous year :o To add in Championship/Blue Riband races they all carry the same weight.
I thought horse racing must have some complex weight system. So it works a bit like a handicap system used in golf?
Yes that's right Wolverine. You will see the name of a race as Handicap Chase ,etc. and very roughly 1lb of weight is equivalent to a horse length. In jump race the lowest weight any horse carries is 10st but Flat races they carry much less. There is something known as The Long Handicap which is the actual allotted weight given to a horse which could go very low so you sometimes hear the phrase 'out of the handicap' which means the horse is carrying more than it should and therefore stands little chance of winning......but they do as things happen during races or the horse is actually on the upgrade.
:)