It costs £100k every time I crash... Brit MotoGP hero Bradley Smith talks to FHM Posted by Jordan Waller, 01 September 2014 The British MotoGP race may now have been and gone, but before rising star rider Bradley Smith took on Silverstone last weekend, he gave us a rundown on the two-wheeled beast that separates him from the tarmac… Tyres “There’s actually no rubber in these tyres, they’re made from chemicals that react with the tarmac. Each set costs about £1,000 and we use around eight sets over a race weekend. When I’m leaning through a corner, the contact patch that the tyre has with the tarmac?is the size of a 50p coin.” Dashboard “There’s not much info on the dashboard. I don’t have a speedometer but I have gear info, RPM, lap times and temperature. You only get one chance each lap to look at it.” Helmet “Your helmet is the only way to identify yourself. I’ve worked with an artist for several years and have gone through about 20 designs – I don’t plan on changing it any time soon.” Leathers “There’s only 4mm of leather that separates my skin from?the tarmac, yet I slide along?at 100mph and can get back up relatively unscathed.” Seat “I’m actually only sitting on a straight, which at most tracks is about 2% of the time. At Silverstone, where it’s so fast, it’s about 5% of the race – it’s definitely my favourite track.” Brake discs “There’s 1,000-degree heat in carbon brake discs, and they’re 340mm thick. When you’re two feet away from someone else who’s also doing 360kph, you need to know you can stop.A standard brake disc would be destroyed in less than one lap.” Sensors “My bike has over 100 sensors, monitoring everything from throttle to brake pressures.” Tail “When I first moved up to the MotoGP class, I had to put sponge on the seat unit as when I accelerated I kept sliding back. In one race, I had to put it on the front as I was sliding forward when braking because my arms were so tired.” Heart “During a race my heart rate is at 190 beats/min which is 96-98% of maximum heart rate. Racing requires a lot of training as you average a speed close to 100 mph for the entire race.” Injuries “In one year, I broke my tibia and fibia, then had a spiral fracture on my right ankle, and broke my radius and ulnar. In MotoGP though, I’ve only fractured my collarbone and bruised my lung.” Fitness “Each race is a massive workout. Every brake and acceleration is like a push up and back row, so that’s at least 750 press-ups and back rows, over 45 minutes without stopping. This is while wearing full leathers, boots, a helmet and have a core temperature inside of 40 C. Come the finish line my arms ache the most and I’m always red-faced and sweating profusely.” Watch Bradley compete in the 2014 San Marino GP exclusively live on BT Sport on 14 September.
Posted on: Sun, 07 Sep 2014 14:35:41 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015