Aleix: Rider weight 'very important' even with 300hp
At 180cm, Aleix Espargaro is one of the tallest riders in MotoGP. That in turn means he has to work harder than most to find a compromise between minimum body weight and having enough muscle to manoeuvre the bike over a race distance.
"It’s very important," said the Aprilia rider, who gave the RS-GP it's first podium at Silverstone last year. "I saw in the past with my team-mates, even if we had 300hp, at the end it’s a machine that has to move weight.
"If you have enough power to handle the bike at 60kg then why do you have to weigh 70? But to find this compromise is not easy.
"For riders under 175cm it’s easy. They can go to the gym and have more strength. But for riders more than 180 it’s very difficult to find this balance.
"I’m 65kg right now. But I can’t do any weights in the gym because if I do it’s very easy to go to 68-69kg, then you start to lose acceleration and performance."
The Spaniard added that he views the extreme weight-watching as his contribution to the endless quest for more horsepower.
"To have the strength and still be that lean is not easy, but this is our job," he said. "When I push the engineers to have more horsepower, I know it’s also not easy for them. I try my best, they try their best."
Following the departure of Valentino Rossi and Danilo Petrucci, Luca Marini (184cm/69kg) is the only other MotoGP rider 180cm or over on the 2022 grid.
Maverick Vinales weighs 1kg less than team-mate Espargaro, but is 9cm shorter.
Peter has been in the paddock for 20 years and has seen Valentino Rossi come and go. He is at the forefront of the Suzuki exit story and Marc Marquez’s injury issues.
