Why does rossi drag his foot

The data shows exactly the same braking time and force, the same weight distribution, no difference whatsoever. So why do it? There must be some reason for such unusual behavior, something which would explain why riders perform an almost ritualized act so deliberately?

Somewhere, there must be an underlying cause to explain why so many riders all go through the same motions? As so often, there are lessons from history, and a student of American racing history drew a fascinating parallel with dirt track, which illustrates how these things come into being.

With his permission, I have reproduced his story in his own words below:. For several decades, American dirt trackers all looked behind the same way: They would leave their left hand on the bar and tuck their head under their left armpit to check on who was back there.

Over time, all sorts of theories were produced, most of them having to do with improved aerodynamics from keeping your head down. But people kept asking why they did it, and eventually a pattern developed:. To answer the question of how the leg wave started, and find out the underlying reason, we need to go back in history to find its first appearance. A quick survey of paddock opinion says that the first time that anyone - including long-time veterans - remembers seeing that now legendary leg wave was at Jerez in , in the last-gasp, last-corner move in which Rossi jammed his Yamaha M1 up the inside of Sete Gibernau's Gresini Honda, barely in control, and Gibernau tried to close the door too late.

That move ended up defining the World Championship, and put Rossi at a psychological advantage over title rival Gibernau which saw him clinch the title with relative ease by the end of the season. The move at that time was born out of a combination of desperation, determination and a feeling that he had nothing left to lose. It worked - both the pass and the leg wave - and Rossi associated that waving of the leg with the success of that pass.

Like all things that Rossi associates with success - the color yellow, the ritual of supplication he performs before getting on the bike, the frankly unsightly picking at his leathers as he rides out of pit lane - he has elaborated on the leg wave and further incorporated it into his routine, seeing it as another weapon in his arsenal of luck, helping to sway the odds in his favor.

Over the years, the leg waving has become more prominent, almost theatrical, Rossi's leg describing circles before he places it back on the footpeg. And that increase in theatricality betrays the way that Rossi views the leg wave: It is becoming less and less a physical act and more and more something entirely psychological, almost religious. It has become a totem, a symbol of his intentions and a petition to the gods of overtaking to help him get past the upstart who has been foolish enough to get ahead of him.

It has become part of Rossi's mojo. This is not to dismiss the leg wave as a meaningless ritual and a complete waste of time. The data shows that Rossi neither gains nor loses ground by the move, so it certainly does no harm. The leg wave works because Rossi believes it works, and like a lucky T-shirt, a holy medallion or putting one boot on before the other, as long as he keeps winning there will be no arguing about its success.

Perhaps even more important than the success that Rossi believes he has with the leg wave is the effect it has had on others. At first, it was just Rossi taking his foot of the peg, but one by one, the rest of the field have adopted the practice, and now just about everyone can be seen doing the leg wave at some point in the race. By the most subtle of means, Rossi has insinuated himself into the psyche of every rider on the grid, and the leg wave is now regarded as a necessary part of riding a MotoGP bike.

That insidious mental domination of the paddock - a domination Rossi is most surely aware of - offers an opportunity to the young upstarts challenging the veteran Champion for his title. If the riders were to look at their data and see that the leg wave offered no advantage while racing, then choosing demonstrably NOT to dangle a leg while braking might help turn the tables on The Doctor.

If they could beat Rossi in a straight fight while keeping their feet firmly on the pegs, then maybe the spell would be broken, and cracks might appear in Rossi's dominance of the mind game.

If the data shows no difference, then what do they have to lose? It is actually a natural phenomenon. I can shed some light on the subject because it is something that happens to me also when I race, and I feel it's just a natural action, as Rossi says it is, however it is a natural action that most riders fight against.

Under heavy braking, either for a left or right hand corner, the rider must shift their foot from having the heel rest on the footpeg to the ball of the foot resting on the foot peg, this involves lifting the leg up, moving it back, and replacing it on the peg so you are on your toes in the corner. In left handed corners it is more pronounced with riders like Casey Stoner, Pedrosa and especially Kenny Roberts Junior as they move the ball of their foot from the shifter to the peg, it dangles out for a while.

He just kindof had an oh shit moment of coming in too hot and probably had a deja-vu vision of slamming into what happened to be Hayden, and then figured "hey, I can slow down a little more if I put my foot down". But yeah, some riders have that style of swinging their foot out from downshifting to back on the peg. I think it can be a dangerous technique as there is a greater possibilty of "missing" and then you find your leg caught under the rear tire.

I am 6'4" with pretty long legs and high rearsets and I still have no need to do this conventional shift pattern though. The ti8ming of the move is alos such that there is ALOT of other things you need your concentration for. Not for me thanks. Last edited by mikeyjudkins; at AM.. All times are GMT The time now is AM. Why does Rossi drag his foot? User Name. Remember Me? Mark Forums Read. Page 1 of 2. Thread Tools. Find More Posts by Mortifer. Quote: I think he is stretching out a cramp.

The net result is a similar drag level to a car, despite a bike's smaller size. With generally less engine power available, this equates to a top speed performance deficit for bikes, but also means that more performance can be extracted by reducing drag.

The other, perhaps less obvious, factor driving drag reduction is the desire to reduce the size of the wake a bike produces. This is of particular interest in Moto2 and Moto3 where more common bike parts mean that small differences can have a large effect. The other defining feature of a motorcycle is the exposed rider and how much they move around. From a drag point of view, optimising rider position whilst on the straight is key to managing drag and the resulting wakes. The rider can also be used as an aerodynamic aid.

Moving out from behind the fairing changes the frontal area and drag coefficient of the bike dramatically. From a simplistic point of view, this increases the drag force and is why it has become a common sight to see riders hanging a leg out under braking. Looking in more detail, the rider rarely moves in a way that is symmetrical, instead hanging off the bike to one side or the other.

This means that the centre of pressure of drag on the bike is no longer along the centreline, instead it is to one side; generating a yaw moment. Harnessing this can be used to help the bike turn-in and corner. Moving away from drag in a top speed sense, brings us to one of the dominant features of motorcycle performance: the wheelie. For a long time, controlling this has been the domain of mechanical design, set-up and electronics.

But why is it such a problem? It all comes down to the relative positions of the centre of gravity and centre of aerodynamic pressure of a motorcycle compared to a car.

This is illustrated in the image below where Lewis Hamilton and Valentino Rossi swapped machinery in The centre of gravity for the MotoGP bike is much higher than the Formula 1 car.

This is coupled with a very short wheelbase around 1. A little maths shows the result of these differences. Ignoring aerodynamic drag and downforce, the load transfer off the front axle onto the rear due to acceleration is given by the formula below:.

Estimating some values for car and bike dimensions gives the table below. As you can see, at only 0. Add in the effect of drag and the load transfer increases further. It takes very little to reduce the front axle load on the bike to near zero, the wheelie. As the front axle loses load, the steering becomes less effective and the front cornering grip reduces considerably, as discussed in this video.

The same problems affect an F1 car to some extent, but really are not an issue at high speeds. The loads on the axles are so high from the additional aerodynamic load that the reduction is barely noticed.