By Marcella Gallace
It takes immense physical strength, agility and focus to become a Motorcycle Grand Prix racer, yet the idea that professional motorcycle racers or car drivers are termed “athletes” is still debated. Yes, I know. Wow.
A Motorcycle Grand Prix is approximately 45 minutes of pure racing.
It requires optimum performance because riders are not just competing against their on track rivals – they are also competing against themselves and their bike.
They dedicate hours upon hours in their week to cardio, often bike riding or running for endurance training.
They keep their body weight low, because their weight affects their speed, while strength and condition training determines their ability to control the bike.
It is no easy task for a MotoGP rider to throw a 157kg bike around a corner at 200km.
It takes strength, focus, and nimbleness as their knee and elbow sweep across the bitumen at a 55-degree lean angle.
Crashes come fast and injuries often follow, yet riders will frequently join the next race just days after surgery.
No two races are the same in MotoGP, and race temperatures can often complicate a rider’s performance. Their training, which is as much physical as it is mental, extends to being able to acclimatise in such conditions to race at their finest.
By the end of the race, most riders will have lost up to 3kg of liquids, which takes a toll on the rider as a decrease in body water can lead to dehydration and in turn a lack of concentration.
Riders have the discipline, training, mind and bodies of athletes, because they are also athletes.
Read on to see what Danilo Petrucci, Remy Gardner and Lorenzo Dalla Porta's training regime looks like in this exclusive interview.
MotoGP: Danilo Petrucci
Danilo Petrucci is a tall racer at 1.81 meters, the same height as Valentino Rossi.
The height lends him to be one of the heavier riders across all the classes at 78kg and it is something that he has consciously worked on.
Petrucci is a dedicated individual and by the beginning of the 2018 MotoGP season, he had dropped an additional 4kg in an effort to improve rear tire consumption.
“You need to be at the top level, physically. But then, as light as possible. Weight is quite important. I am one of the heaviest riders in MotoGP. So for me, it’s a hard balance between performance and body weight.”
He trains hard with varied workout routines each day to keep things interesting.
It includes motorcycle training on motocross or flat bike at least three times a week, daily cardio training such as bicycle riding or running, and several gym sessions throughout the week.
“When we do motocross we do two sessions, maybe 30 minutes sessions at the maximum power. Then at the gym, I usually have circuit or interval training for 1 hour and 15 minutes and at least 10km of running. I like to run.”
Due to Petrucci’s natural ability to gain muscle easily, he refrains from weight training to avoid muscle mass adding to his overall weight.
“I have some physical workouts, without weights because you do need to be agile, yes. But at the same time, you need to stretch. You don’t need big muscles [to race] and especially regarding me I already have by nature very good muscles. So it’s important to me not to gain [muscle mass] weight.”
He watches “the quality and quantity of the food” he consumes and avoids processed and fatty food.
He says racing for 45 minutes was a challenge at the beginning of his MotoGP career and fitness training is what helped him, “I was really in trouble in the first year to have good pace, especially at the beginning of the race…45 minutes is long and very intense.”
“It’s very important to be physically okay in a MotoGP race because it’s the most demanding thing I have ever done in my life.”
Moto2: Remy Gardner
Remy Gardner has a method approach to his physical training - “the best fitness training for riding - is riding.”
His fitness regime is almost all cardio, “training bikes around three times a week” and running on the other days. Unlike most riders, Gardner prefers not to attend the gym and “instead [tries] to ride motorcycles as much as possible” to enhance his physical agility.
There’s no ‘strict’ meal plan or diet, rather a healthy and conscious approach to food.
He acknowledges that “fitness is one of the most important keys to racing, especially in Moto2 or MotoGP,” and one of the key factors to approaching a race for the young Aussie is to be well rested entering the race weekend.
“The less tired you are, the harder you can push,” he says.
This sees a slight shift in Gardner’s workout schedule leading into a race weekend, where he will engage in less cardio to preserve his energy for race day. It’s one of the reasons he prefers not to ride the racetrack circuit on his bicycle, an option that is given to the riders when they arrive.
“I don’t do laps on the bicycle, for one it’s difficult to take [your bicycle] to all the races. And I prefer not to tire myself before the weekend.”
What’s clear about Gardner is that he trains both hard and smart, “forty-five minutes on the bike is no easy task, being on top of your fitness is super important.”
Moto3: Lorenzo Dalla Porta
The Italian, who currently leads the Moto3 Championship, dedicates an average of up to four hours a day to training and pair’s cardio with either motocross or strength and conditioning.
“Being in shape is a must when you race,” he says. “In order to get the maximum from yourself, it is important to have the correct weight and the best physical condition.”
Dalla Porta is a well-rounded athlete, and keeps his weight consistent through a clean diet and training, “the lighter you are the faster you can go, and the stronger you are the cleverer you can be.”
His firm diet consists of fruit, vegetables, white meat and fish, while he avoids carbs as well as processed foods.
Occasionally, he will treat himself to a cheat meal, “I got to say, I love cheating sometimes…French fries, burgers or pizza, chocolate.”
A regular day for Dalla Porta often starts with a morning bike ride, followed by an afternoon gym session.
Similar to Petrucci and Gardner, he incorporates motocross into his week, “Other days I combine riding the bicycle in the morning and then in the afternoon I do motocross.”
“Fitness, nutrition and resting time” are the key elements that Dalla Porta recognises as vital to his racing skills.
This interview was originally published in October 2019 at motogp.com.au.