The two MotoGP riders that revolutionised Alpinestars leathers

Alpinestars, along with Dainese, are one of the most trusted leather suit brands by MotoGP riders.

Marc Marquez, Francesco Bagnaia, Jorge Martin and Fabio Quartararo are just some of the riders who wear Alpinestars.

The development that goes into these race suits is extensive to provide the best comfort, but above all, safety.

For decades knee sliders were needed for riders, but just over ten years ago the sport was pushed on by the riding styles, which meant elbow sliders were needed.

Chris Hillard, Alpinestars Media Relations Manager, said: "Around 2011/2012 elbows started to hit the floor in a few corners but then Marc Marquez was really the first proponent to make elbow sliders a thing. 

"Through the years we've developed an elbow slider and that's been adopted in all classes. 

"They're all dragging their elbow and when you look these days, in some corners Jorge Martin is starting to drag his shoulder. 

"This is an area where we are constantly evolving. How much a leather suit flexes or wears, probably the best way to demonstrate it is the suit from 1998. 

"You can fold it away quite easily, but if we take Fabio's [Quartararo] fully armed, fully loaded suit ready for the race weekend it still works exactly the same way, but inside there is a air bag, all types of softer and harder protections inside."

One of the key components to modern race suits is the air bag system, which Alpinestars have developed and perfected in recent years.

It's one of the additions that had led to a reduction in injuries, with Hillard saying: "It was 2009 that we were on-track for the first time with a fully functioning air bag in MotoGP. 

"And in 2018 the FIM saw such a reduction in injuries that they made the technology mandatory. 

"It can detect a crash in 14 milliseconds and then once the algorithm has decided you're going to crash it can fully deploy the air bag in 25 milliseconds."