Download video
Link to Youtube
MP4 file
MOV file
Compacted for TV
Copyright free
The Repsol Honda team riders were able to experience free fall in the biggest wind tunnel in Europe.
A week after the first test of the 2018 preseason, Marc Márquez and Dani Pedrosa enjoyed a unique experience in Madrid, as they felt what it is like to fly in the biggest wind tunnel in Europe. The Repsol Honda team riders floated in the air, as if they had jumped from a plane without a parachute. Later, in a horizontal wind tunnel, they explained the importance of aerodynamics in many sports, including motorcycle racing.
Accustomed to reaching speeds of over 300 km/h and something akin to flying at race tracks, Márquez and Pedrosa put on their skydiving overalls in the Madrid facility. In a chamber measuring 4.6 metres wide and 17 metres high, and thanks to four powerful engines that generate a vertical current of adjustable speed between 180 and 300 km/h, the Repsol Honda Team riders were able to feel the effect of a wind capable of making them float in the air.
Wind, and more specifically how it affects the behaviour of a MotoGP bike, is one of the key elements in the sport, where aerodynamics has become a very important aspect in bike development. Honda have had their own wind tunnel in Japan since the 1970s, and Márquez and Pedrosa have worked there together with HRC engineers to optimise parameters such as wind resistance and downforce –which affect both top speed as acceleration.
In the first test of the year at in Sepang (Malaysia), Márquez and Pedrosa were able to try out Honda’s latest developments in that regard, a job that will continue in eight days’ time in Thailand, in the second official test of the 2018 preseason.
Wind tunnel features
Marc Márquez
“It was my first experience in a vertical wind tunnel, I had never tried it before and it’s completely unique. It’s good, because it forces you to think constantly about what you are doing; the moment you lose a little focus and change footing, you destabilise. It is very sensitive -something that I’m not at times. It’s also good to try new things. I haven’t made any saves but it’s true that your shoulders suffer more here than when you ride a bike, because of the air and force, but it has been very fun.”
Dani Pedrosa
“I had a lot of fun in the vertical wind tunnel. I really enjoyed doing some spinning maneuvers. Later on, with Marc, it was more difficult to do with both of us at the same time, but I also liked it. From the outside it doesn’t seem like much, but when you are there inside it is quite high up, and it gives you the feeling that you are rising very quickly. The instructors taught us very well and we learned very fast. I want to repeat the experience someday.”
