MotoGP Bharat: How do riders walk away unscathed even after scary-looking crashes at high speeds? | Motor-sport News

When MotoGP rider Jack Miller thinks back to the start of his Grand Prix career over a decade ago, he remembers all the scary-looking crashes. And the broken bones.
“When I started out my grand prix career, I constantly suffered from broken collar bones. But I haven’t had one in a long time,” Miller, who races for Red Bull KTM, tells The Indian Express.
The reason behind this turnaround is not because Miller has stopped crashing — he was involved in one just earlier this month at San Marino with another rider, Michele Pirro. Miller’s collar bones — and the rest of him — are safer these days than when he started over a decade ago because of nifty advancements in safety equipment in the sport, particularly the airbags that are now mandatory since 2018, inside race suits of riders.
“It’s an amazing time to be a part of the sport. No burns, not as many injuries, and a very, very quick turnaround time when we’re talking about coming off a crash. The reason I haven’t had broken collar bones in recent seasons is simply down to the airbag which deploys over the shoulder and helps you keep your upper body safe,” Miller adds.
The airbags that Miller is talking about are tiny little things tucked into the kangaroo leather suits that deploy when a rider has a bad crash. In essence, there is a tiny explosion in the rider’s suit, which puffs up.
But what makes the tiny airbags even more incredible is the fact that they are operated built-in accelerometers and gyroscopes which instruct the airbags to deploy in a few milliseconds to protect the upper body of the rider.
“If we look back to the 1970s, riders then were almost wearing just leather pants and a leather jacket. But we’re fortunate enough to wear equipment like deploying airbags and so on. It gives you an extra boost in terms of peace of mind. You know it has your back,” says Miller.
The other piece of equipment that Miller swears in a sport where riders can touch speeds of 300 kmph is the helmet.
“I’ve always been a firm believer in putting something very good on your head. You only have one of them, and getting that to heal is very difficult. Having all these amazing bits of equipment that help prevent injuries and help us get up back on the bike as soon as possible has always been a big key factor for me,” he says.
How riders turn at those crazy angles
A close-up of the elbow slider on the arm of Jack Miller, who races for Red Bull KTM Factory Racing team. (PHOTO: Red Bull)
When race weekend at the MotoGP Bharat comes around on Sunday, first-time watchers of the event are likely to be bewildered just how riders can lean so perilously close to the track on turns, with their knees — and even their elbows now, thanks to Marc Marquez — rubbing against the track. Riders have been turning with their knees close to the ground ever since Kenny Roberts employed the technique in 1978!Most Read
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Riders are able to pull off those angles thanks to plastic ‘sliders’ they wear on their knees and now on their elbows as well.
The idea of the slider is to literally help the rider slide effortlessly on the asphalt because the leather will grip the track. In the case of crashes too, the sliders help the riders roll off the track, often out of harm’s way.
“Nowadays, the safety equipment that we need to use mandatorily is at an extremely high level. Of course, you’re trying to minimise the risk as much as possible. But at the end of the day, we’re all trying to get the maximum out of the bike,” says Miller, before adding: “Safe is not really in the job description.”