The focus on aerodynamics has been huge in MotoGP in recent seasons. More than the great influence that this has on the bikes and their performance, it also seems to have been a point of great attention on the performance of the riders, especially in the Asian rounds, with a lot of heat.
After today’s long race, Alexi Espargaro revealed enormous physical difficulties to finish the race, something that was also mentioned by Luca Marini. The Italian rider of the Mooney VR46 confirmed that riding in the slipstream of other riders is something extremely difficult due to the heat generated by the bikes:
– It’s impressive, the bike pulls a lot of hot air for you and you breathe hot air. When you follow another rider you start sweating a lot more than when you’re alone and it’s very, very difficult. I do not know. It’s something that’s the case at the moment and we can’t change too much in my opinion. It wasn’t an easy race this one and I expect the same in Malaysia, so it’s difficult. For me, I wasn’t 100%. For my shoulder it was also more complicated with all the braking to the left, it was really, really difficult. But that’s the way it is. The important thing is to be at the front.