We have never been so ready for the big return of MotoGP to the track, and it will be announced on February 5 with a “shakedown” which will bring together the test riders and the rookie in Sepang. Augusto Fernandez. A preliminary which will last until the 7th. Then it will be the turn of the tenors whose slot will extend from February 10 to 12. All in a real furnace that only Malaysia is capable of offering, like its neighbors Indonesia and Thailand also on the calendar. But the incandescent bitumen of Sepang can be filed down for six days for a test driver mobilized by his employer. One of them, Cal Crutchlow, recalls the physical cost of evolving in such conditions…
Being a test rider is undoubtedly less demanding than playing a season as a starter in MotoGP, but this February, it will potentially be the opposite. Blame it on the Sepang tests. So while the stars, with the exception of the rookie Augusto Fernandez, are only eligible for the official three-day release of the February 10 to 12, test drivers will also be in action at the Shakedown of 5 at 7 February. In other words, testers could ride their hot prototypes in Malaysia, up to eight hours a day, for six of the next eight days.
And it won't be easy. Cal Crutchlow, among his compatriots of crash.net, thus recalls the torment that this expedition imposes on the protagonists: “the problem is not only the heat of the engine of our own motorcycle, but also the heat that comes out of the back of the exhausts of others” begins the one who does the tests For Yamaha .
Cal Crutchlow: “In most sports there is a heat protocol. Here, we get blown up at 1 degrees..."
« Honestly, it's so hot in here. I never understood why some guys are still sitting in their leathers two hours after the race », the Englishman is surprised. “ In most sports there is a heat protocol. Here, we get blown up at 1 degrees... ". On the bike, it looks like this: “ When wearing a leather suit, breathe into your own helmet, with your heart rate at 200 beats per minute, with 35 degrees to high humidity, sitting on a motorcycle 1 000 degrees that burn you, with other motorcycles all around you… It's hard ».
He also mentions this fact: “ our body temperature was analyzed which quickly rose to 40°. These are the most extreme measures in all sports. Because you're wearing leathers, you're on a hot motorcycle. We're going well beyond 40° for the entire race here. Honestly, at the first corner you have over 40 degrees body temperature from the first corner and you have 20 laps left. It's incredible ! ». Cal Crutchlow concludes: “ people don't understand that when you ride here it's hard ". See you on Sunday…
