Minimum Weight?

[mikebv]

There was a good interview with Jason Doyle in the Speedway Star and he mentioned how some riders are basically "starving themselves" up to three days before meetings to drop weight..

Tai, and others, have mentioned in the past how much of an advantage being "lightweight" can be on the big circuits where speed is key..

When the tracks were deeper, maybe a bit of weight helped drive the back wheel into the grip, but on today's wide, big, fast, slick circuits, getting off the start line and riding full gas has never been so important given the straight line "rocket ships" they race on..

Bikes get checked for weight, so maybe both man and machine should have a minimum combined weight too? 

Doyle suggested that the weight loss can be draining and weaken the strength of the riders, which obviously means a potential safety issue could exist...

They changed the weigh in time in Boxing due to fighters "boiling down" and losing weight right up to the morning of the weigh in, the day before a fight, meaning so much strength and endurance had been lost come fight night, even after trying to pile pounds back on in 24 hours..

Would a "minimum weight" for rider and bike even up the playing field?

[marko]

But by the same token though, wouldn’t a heavier rider gain at the start? Where if you have something powerful but light it will generally spin more?
 

[mikebv]

1 hour ago, marko said:

But by the same token though, wouldn’t a heavier rider gain at the start? Where if you have something powerful but light it will generally spin more?
 

Wouldn't basic Inertia impact things though, even if all start line grids ever provided the same grip? 

Eg Moving 10 stone as opposed to 8 stone will be take longer ...

The clutch also appeared to be used far more than it is used nowadays from the starts...

I remember Hans Nielsen still "feathering" it up to the first turn to keep the drive on...

Starts are somewhat of a "dark art" it seems with no real perfect way to do it..

Hence so many meetings never get won on a maximum as continually making the gate every time, given all the variables, is down to as much luck as talent I would say.

Horse racing uses extra weight to even up the racing, as do several other Motorsports..

And for riders to actively lose weight before a major meeting, they must see it as a distinct advantage, or, at the very least, a lessening of the advantage of some others...

[Dave_minall]

It's basic physics - a lighter rider would increase the power to weight ratio of the machine and therefore SHOULD result in a faster race. The nuance to this is that there is a balancing act between drift and traction that makes our sport as beautiful as it is.

I remember hearing Woffy say in an interview about 12 months ago stating that riders like Zagar would never be world champ because of how tall he is, but compare him to Vaculik who is arguably just as tall walk away with a Bronze medal in 2023.

I think it's worth investigating, not necessarily implemented, but it would be interesting to see two riders going head to head (for instance Ben Cook vs NKI) then see what the results would be if they added weight to Cook's bike to make the weight even between the two.

My opinion on it is that it probably does have an impact, but arguably not as much as some riders are making it out to be. Engines can be tuned, timing can be changed etc to suit riders and their build. Screeny was always one of the more heavier set riders towards the end of his career and he was still dominating at championship level up until his retirement. 

[IainB]

4 hours ago, mikebv said:

Would a "minimum weight" for rider and bike even up the playing field?

Not sure...

[piston197]

I used to hear the argument with pre 65 trials bikes, people were spending £12,000 building trick Ariel HT5's which got the weight down to around 210Lbs for a 500cc bike which would normally weigh above 300Lbs, alloy rims, alloy replica Whitton Bantam hubs with plated brake surface, tubeless tyres, modern lightweight fork internals in Norton sliders, PVL ignition, 350cc flywheels, carbon fibre primary cases, sintered alloy barrel with chrome liner and Yamaha XT 350 piston, alloy guards/levers/bars, NEB clutch foam pad seat etc. etc.  Then saddle it with a 14 stone rider !, sometimes the cheapest option would be to lose 3 stone off the rider ?