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Amateur vs. Pro: How Much Faster Is A Pro Motorcycle Racer?
If I had a nickel for every time a motorcycle layman commented, “Just twist the throttle to go faster,” I’d probably have at least five or six dollars to my name. Of course, we all know nothing could be further from the truth.
BikeSocial content editor Michael Mann set out to find out exactly how much slower he is than a professional. Mann enlisted the help of 2016 British Superstock 1000 Champion Taylor Mackenzie, a pair of identical BMW S1000RR’s road bikes, and a VBOX Sport dataloger.
From the article:
After a few years of track day riding and training, I’m happy to represent the average rider from the fast group while the 25-year old son of multiple British champion and MotoGP rider, Niall Mackenzie, is the professional rider who competes at the highest national level. Is the difference going to be a few measly seconds per lap that I could make up with some professional guidance and another 30 laps of the 2.17 mile Lincolnshire track (then wake up from an obvious dream)? Or am I looking at 15 seconds per lap which will see me firmly put any kind of competitive racing thoughts to bed. Not that I have any.
Mann put together a video of the entire day and a really good data analysis, which you can read in full here.
This is really cool. Maybe we could do it for dirt bikes?