Red Bull Motorsports
MotoGP
MotoGP Electronics & the Art of Throttle Control
The rise of computerized motorcycles and the man who was better than the computer.
For an entire generation of Grand Prix heroes who reigned not that long ago — the heroes of today's heroes, in fact — there was one specific skill that determined greatness or mediocrity more than any other: throttle control.
From the late '70s to the late '90s, the ability to master the era's powerfully brutish GP machines and bend them to their will was what separated the legends from the also-rans. For decades, this lent a unique and nearly insurmountable advantage to American and Australian dirt trackers who had been raised, nearly since birth, learning how to manipulate traction with their right wrists.
The pioneer of the knee drag, King Kenny
© Bob Thomas/Getty Images
The manufacturers (bike and tire) worked relentlessly to develop their way out of this rut with varying degrees of success. Advances in chassis, tire and engine delivery helped to level the playing field slowly over time.
Finally, an overnight gamechanger arrived like an "E-Bomb" in the form of advanced electronic aids, "traction control" chief among them. And with that, the power of balance was irrevocably altered.
2006 GP champ, Nicky Hayden grew up dirt tracking.
© Quinn Rooney / Getty Images
Riders were forced to wrap their heads around a new technique to get the best possible corner exit: Simply whacking open the throttle at full drive-lean and allowing the sensors and internal computer decide how to best apply the power to the pavement.
These new computerized tools blessed gifted riders (regardless of their racing upbringing) with preternatural consistency and exactness. They effortlessly clicked off lap after lap near their respective ultimate pace, leaving very little to chance.
And just like that, the once mysterious black art of throttle control was rendered obsolete in the Grand Prix paddock … or very nearly that is.
Casey Stoner dances on the edge of grip in 2011.
© Gold & Goose / Red Bull Content Pool
One holdover dared to rage against the machine and take on the computers with his god-given gifts … a veritable modern-day John Henry, the steel-driving man of folklore.
That racer was an Aussie dirt tracker named Casey Stoner, who preferred to run far less traction control than his contemporaries (despite being tagged with the back-handed compliment, "best of the traction control generation" by bitter rival Valentino Rossi after Stoner first proved to be a serious thorn in the Italian's side).
Stoner leads rival Lorenzo, Jerez 2012.
© Gold & Goose / Red Bull Content Pool
Stoner's innate skill actually proved superior and more versatile than any ECU. He made his machine dance on the edge of grip, snatched it back up off its side and dialed in acceleration earlier on exit than any rider/computer hybrid in the world dared.
His unmatched leaps out of the corners made him arguably the fastest and talented rider of a generation that also included the likes of Rossi, Jorge Lorenzo and Dani Pedrosa (and it would have been fascinating to see him square off with Marc Marquez had their eras overlapped).
Marc Marquez is no stranger to throttle control.
© NurPhoto/Corbis via Getty Images
Two MotoGP race winners went so far to say that, as outstanding as Rossi and Lorenzo are, they aren't doing anything in particular that can't be comprehended by their rivals — they are simply doing it at an elite level. Stoner, however, well, they had no idea how he managed to do what he did. His abilities mystified them.
And like John Henry, Stoner's career ended abruptly and with little warning (although, thankfully, much less tragically). His sudden retirement created a void, and with it, an advantage that has yet to be claimed by any of his successors.
Marc Marquez has been a leader in the revival of dirt track across the globe, shown in the video below getting sideways while training in Spain:
The recent surge in popularity of dirt track racing among the current MotoGP superstars — a resurgence spearheaded in part by Marc Marquez — suggests that is one vacuum that today's heroes not only recognize, but are scrambling to fill.
