MotoGP : The aerodynamic hump and its history

Imagine you are on the straight line of your favorite circuit at more than 250km/h. You are stuck behind the bubble of your motorcycle, but for a few moments you can catch your breath and relax your muscles. In any case, the almost perfect aerodynamics of the folded position and the integration of the helmet and the suit mean that you don't have to fight to keep your head and body in position. But was it always like that?

Until the late 1980s, it was a whole different story. The aerodynamic study of racing and sports motorcycles was still so basic that it was almost prehistoric, while the manufacturers of clothing and protections had not even begun to take an interest in it. Keeping your body in the right position on the straight lines was not that simple. The head in particular tended to move left and right, requiring great effort from the neck muscles to stay erect.

This is how the hump came in the back of the Dainese rider suits in 1988. But despite what you might think, it was not introduced because of the aerodynamics. For starters, they had safety in mind and it was made of rubber and foam.

The search for the best back protector was still in progress at the end of the 80s. Back protector had arrived on circuits a decade earlier, the first real personal protective equipment for motorcycles, which was a revolution. But it could not extend to the last thoracic vertebrae, as it could damage the cervical vertebrae if the neck bent in a certain way. The solution of the equipment manufacturers to solve this problem was the integration of a hump in flexible material to protect the parts of the body that a back protection cannot reach.

Made of high density rubber, the aerodynamic hump has excellent shock absorption and has been shaped so as not to interfere with the rider movements, to ensure maximum freedom and comfort.

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