The Weekend Job

EVER WONDERED HOW A MOTOGP TEAM GOES ABOUT DOING ITS BUSINESS OVER A RACE WEEKEND? OUR MAN DEVESH SHOBHA SNEAKS INTO THE APRILIA GARAGE AND GETS ALL THE DOPE

- Devesh Shobha

“So, everybody loves all the racing action that takes place on a MotoGP weekend. But wouldn’t it be great to know what goes on behind the garage walls that makes motorcycle racing such a spectacle? Things such as making strategies for a race weekend, figuring out the perfect bike setups, crisis management in case of a crash to name a few – sounds like a painstaking exercise, doesn’t it? But all of this is done and dusted in five days straight. Like clockwork. Well, at most times. If and when things do go wrong, the teams are well equipped to handle pressure situations, such as building another bike two hours before the race. You read it right, two hours dead. So, here’s a look at how Team Aprilia pulled offone of its successful race weekends this MotoGP season.

Setting it up

While we’re exposed to racing action over the weekend through the idiot box, for the team, it all begins on Tuesdays as the shiny trucks arrive at the track, at least for the European rounds. These massive set of wheels carry bikes, spares and their tools, helping the team kickstart its operations the very next day. Expecting to spot one of these trucks on our highways if and when MotoGP comes to India? Well, for the flyaway races, road transportation isn’t feasible and that’s where MotoGP’s logistics partners play their role, shipping race equipment by air. All of it arrives directly at race circuits, while the team reaches the track on their own.