Testing a perfect MotoGP start? “Otherwise, you don’t know where the limit is…”
The only way to find the limit for a MotoGP start is to go over it.
Practice starts during 2025 MotoGP winter testing at Sepang and Buriram have produced some dramatic images of riders lighting up the rear tyre after dropping the clutch.
While such ‘bad’ starts were common on the opening day of testing with new machines in the past, some quick adjustments to the electronic launch control would soon settle things down.
But with ride-height devices, front and rear, added to the equation, alongside clutch release, torque delivery and rider position, starts have become much more complicated. Especially on 'dusty' low-grip grids such as Buriram.
While going as low as possible with the holeshot device might seem obvious for anti-wheelie purposes, Jack Miller revealed last October that, due to the risk of rear wheel spin, KTM had four different front settings to choose between.
Other manufacturers are also sure to have multiple height options.
“It’s to do with the front end, obviously with the front start device. So we are just playing with different stroke lengths,” Miller had said of wheelspin during practice starts.
"Obviously in high-grip conditions, you jam the thing down [as low as you can] like a drag racer.
“But in lower grip conditions, you want to play with a little bit more weight on the rear.
“It’s just understanding what’s working at that track, by picking the dirtiest spot on the grid and seeing what you can get away with!”
Miller then "brought over some knowledge" to Pramac Yamaha for 2025 and had no complaints about the M1's starting ability at the recent Buriram test.
"She’s a rocket ship. I already set Yamaha’s records and she’ll be ready to go when we go racing," he said.
“Otherwise, you don’t know where the limit is”
2025 pre-season testing saw all five factories running lower-than-ever holeshot devices, with fairings touching the track in some cases.
But the perfect balance between wheelies and wheelspin is a never-ending quest since track conditions are always changing, even if only in terms of temperature.
Yamaha technical director Max Bartolini explained that there is no exact formula for a perfect MotoGP start. The only way to find the limit is to go over it during testing and practice sessions.
“We looked at the others and we've tried [to go super low] like everybody else!” Bartolini told Crash.net.
“We’re trying to get the maximum, so that means during the tests we also sometimes try to make even too much.
“To set the holeshot device is a kind of mixed combination. It’s not a fixed value.
“It depends also on what the rider does. How he uses the clutch. And still there is suspension [movement] in the game as well.
“So in the tests, you try to find the best [combination] and maybe sometimes it’s a little bit too much.
“But otherwise, you don’t know where the limit is.”
While the ultra-low holeshot device settings are not used after the race start, the normal ride-height lowering system is always available to aid acceleration onto the long straights.
Some manufacturers, such as Ducati, have an ‘automatic’ system that is triggered by the rider on the way into a corner and lowers by itself on the exit.
Others, such as Honda, use a manual system where the rider decides when the bike should be lowered on corner exit.
Bartolini said Yamaha has both options available.
“We have different combinations, automatic or manual. It depends on what the rider prefers,” he said.
The first real start of 2025 will take place at Buriram on Saturday afternoon, in the Thai Grand Prix Sprint race.
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