VOL. 52 ISSUE 24 JUNE 16, 2015 P111
Briefly...
and forearm ailments have been the
bane of many a racer's life more or
less since the arrival of disc brakes
and slick tires… but are technical
advances turning a misfortune into
an epidemic? A spate of operations
to Spanish riders this year is sug-
gestive: Dani Pedrosa missed three
races after radical surgery after
round one, latest in a series of op-
erations; Pol Espargaro followed him
to the surgery after Le Mans, his first
such intervention; Hector Barbera
and Alex Rins both underwent simi-
lar procedures after the last round in
Italy.
The ailment is not universal: Valen-
tino Rossi is one who has escaped,
in spite of a long career in which
he has seen the physical strains on
the rider increase significantly. "For
me, there is a technical reason. In
the last years pressure on the arms
during the braking has increased,"
Rossi said. "Bridgestone's front is
fantastic, the brakes get bigger and
bigger. Also there is more engine
braking. This is a lot of force com-
ing to your arms." Marquez added
that the high level means "you have
to push so hard, for the whole race;"
and thought that riding style made a
difference. He had never been trou-
bled until this year, when his finger
injury forced him to ride awkwardly.
Brembo's data for this track showed
that maximum braking for turn one
lasted 5.9 seconds with a maximum
of 1.6G deceleration. Nowhere was
the figure less than 1.3G except for
the last corner, where the bikes are
already at an angle of lean.
Suzuki took a great leap forward at
Catalunya, with new engine parts
making only a small difference to top
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