Motul Big Stats - Rider profiles

To master a sport such as motorcycle racing you need to have what it takes. You need to be able to have the strength and ability to manoeuvre the bike, you need to be strong enough to control the bike but be small enough and aerodynamic enough to cut down on wind resistance.

So what is the biological profile of the MotoGP grid?

Age plays a huge factor in all sports, unfortunately as you age you become less flexible and agile, but in MotoGP experience and physical ability can take precedence over youth. The youngest rider in the premier class is Alex Rins, 22 years and 6 months old, the oldest rider is Valentino Rossi who is 39 years and 4 months old but shows no signs of stopping anytime soon. 

MotoGP riders are much like jockeys, riders with a smaller stature can have an advantage, in terms of aerodynamics, but riders still need to possess the ability to control the bike. The smallest rider is #26 Dani Pedrosa who stands at just 5 foot 2 inches tall. The tallest in Brit Scott Redding, who is 10 inches taller than the HRC rider at 6ft 0.6 inches. 

Weight also plays a part, adding to resistance and drag on the bike. The heaviest rider held by both Danilo Petrucci and Scott Redding who weigh 12st, 3lb and 15oz, the lightest is Dani Pedrosa who weighs just 8st and 6oz. Scott and Dani are both the heaviest and tallest and lightest and smallest respectively. 

BMI or Body Mass Index is the measure of body fat based on weigh in relation to height, of course it is skewed for athletes as muscle is heavier than fat which will be why Danilo Petrucci registers as overweight with a BMI of 25.39. Dani Pedrosa also has the lowest BMI of the grid due to his short height and low weight. The normal BMI range is between 18.5kg/m2 - 25 kg/m2 and LCR Honda’s Cal Crutchlow has BMI of 24.09 which means he is close to being considered overweight. But again, this avid cyclist is clearly too lean to be considered overweight.

Do you think you have the physical attributes to race motorcycles at a global level? The average age of a MotoGP rider is 28 years and 2 months old, 5 years and 8 months older than the youngest rider on the grid and 11 years and 2 months younger than the eldest.