Performance comparison MotoGP versus Superbike

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Performance comparison MotoGP versus Superbike
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Performance comparison MotoGP versus Superbike

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MotoGP missiles are the sharpest and most expensive two-wheeler devices of all time. Why are they hardly faster than superbikes??

Do you know Ivan Clementi? No? The 29-year-old Italian is fighting for World Superbike points in a 750cc Kawasaki ZX-7RR classic car that has long had no chance. But it was this Ivan Clementi that upset the hierarchy of motorcycle racing in Assen in the Netherlands last September. As a respectable tenth in Superpole, he achieved 2.03.281 minutes and was thus faster than his two brand colleagues Andrew Pitt (2.03.371) and Garry McCoy (2.03.407) with their 1000cc MotoGP-Kawasaki-Ninja-ZX-RR in June 2003.
And it got even harder in Assen.
Ducati MotoGP star Loris Capirossi was the first rider ever to beat the wonderful Desmosedici in training under two minutes around the traditional course in West Friesland, but a few weeks later, superbike evergreen Pierfrancesco Chili was only 1.1 seconds longer in 2.00.8 minutes? ? on a private Ducati 998 RS, built in 2001.
Such a used racer would certainly change hands for barely 50,000 euros, while the value of a Ducati Desmosedici, the only machine in sight of the Honda RC-211-V high-flyers in 2003, can hardly be quantified. But it’s not just Chili’s Superbike Superpole that raises questions. The 170.061 km / h average speed of Ducati works rider Troy Bayliss, achieved in March 2002 on a 998 at the Superbike World Championship race win in Phillip Island, Australia, would have been eighth in MotoGP in October 2003. Capirossi finished second behind Valentino Rossi’s Honda (172.006 km / h) with an average speed of 171.650 km / h.
These small differences between even a little bit aged Super-
bikes and the latest MotoGP marvels-
works surprise Ducati-Corse boss-
engineer Corrado Cecchinelli, responsible for both machine types, does not: »The advantage of the MotoGP machine with a power to weight ratio of 0.60 for the Desmosedici versus 0.82 kg / hp for the 999 F03 is effective in practice because of the better drivability of the superbike engines because of their more civil torque curve. In addition, the drivers themselves, especially the tires, are extremely important for lap times. “
Especially in tire development there has been an overpowered since the introduction-
ten MotoGP torch launched a revolution in 2002: Fundamental new designs, including an enlarged contact area, resulted in lower running-
surface temperatures and, above all, better durability at the highest level. Incidentally, this also helps the World Championship Superbikers a lot.
But regardless of that, they lie
achievable results of the two world championship categories close together, especially in Assen or Phillip Island, two of the three slopes used by the Superbike World Championship and MotoGP. These stretches have fast and fluid corners. In the fourth or fifth gear corners of Assen, for example, every race-
machine actually hardly obtained more than 160 hp. Even a superbike does not go to its limit, from the
Not to mention MotoGP missiles.
The top speed advantage of up to 30 km / h and the better acceleration of the MotoGP devices are reflected in
the lap times also hardly fall. Because only in the last acceleration phase at the exit of the curve, when the
Machine almost upright again
is, and on the subsequent full throttle straight the superbike lags behind.
It is precisely these full load phases, in which the pilots really press the throttle grip against the stop, are much shorter and rarer than it appears at first glance. Even at the home GP in Mugello, where Capirossis Desmosedici reached the fabulous value of over 332 km / h on the seemingly endless home straight, this unmasked
Data recording only 17 percent of the lap as full load. And in Assen we experience very high cornering speeds, but only six percent full throttle. In addition, the significantly higher speeds mean that you have to brake earlier, which further reduces the speed advantage.
These data actually point to an absolute limit that is no longer distant-
indicate the physics of driving with still
so elaborate chassis and tire technology or endlessly rising
Engineer Cecchinelli knows that engine power will no longer be tricked. Nonetheless, he expects further major advances, especially from the tires: »Significantly faster lap times come when the tire performance continues to improve significantly. After that it’s our turn again and have to adapt the machines; first with the chassis. When the tires and chassis are ready, we need even more engine power. ”
The German Harald Eckl, who as head of the Kawasaki Racing Team switched from the Superbike World Championship to MotoGP in 2003, sees the comparison more as a theory: »With the proximity of MotoGP and Super-
bikes it would be over quickly in a joint race. The superbikes could not show their advantages in terms of drivability at part load. The much more powerful MotoGP machines would overtake the straights and the super-
The less fluid MotoGP cornering dynamics are imposed on bikers out of the lead. «In addition, Eckl predicts better controllability of the MotoGP monsters despite increasing performance:» Excessive and exorbitantly expensive-
We will see more sophisticated MotoGP machines with 240, 250 and more horsepower more quickly than many people think. ”With the Desmosedici Evo level but one, the 998 or ZX-7RR bargains are no longer available.

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