Photo: motogp.com
Riding gear manufacturer Alpinestars reveals the data recorded by the TechAir airbag unit in Loris Baz's leather suit during his violent crash last week at Sepang.
Baz came off the bike on the start/finish straight line of the Sepang circuit while he was riding his Ducati with a fully open throttle. The speed he was traveling at was around 290 km/h (180 mph) when Avintia's French rider lost control of the bike because the rear tire exploded.
It appears that the exact causes for the failure of the Michelin softer compound tire are still being investigated, as no official report was published at the time of writing.
One of the causes may have been the incorrect pressure in the tire Michelin mentioned. However, Avintia says that Loris Baz' tire was correct, and the incident was caused by the Michelin product entirely. While waiting for a full report on the matter, we must add that after Baz crashed, Michelin retired the softer compound tires from the test.
As Baz was leaving the bike, the Alpinestars TechAir airbag fired, and fractions of a second later, the rider impacted the track. The maximum impact force was recorded in his left shoulder and was a staggering 29.9 G.
For the sake of comparison, when Marc Marquez crashed at Mugello in 2013 at 340 km/h (over 211 mph), the peak impact force was 25 G, while Lorenzo sustained a broken collarbone after hitting the Assen asphalt with 22.5 G the same year.
Baz' slide on the track was 6.6 seconds long before coming to a complete stop, and you can tell by the looks of his tattered leathers that the trip was not the most pleasurable one. However, he literally walked away and was able to resume the tests later that day. Follow the link to see his leathers and watch the crash.
It appears that the exact causes for the failure of the Michelin softer compound tire are still being investigated, as no official report was published at the time of writing.
One of the causes may have been the incorrect pressure in the tire Michelin mentioned. However, Avintia says that Loris Baz' tire was correct, and the incident was caused by the Michelin product entirely. While waiting for a full report on the matter, we must add that after Baz crashed, Michelin retired the softer compound tires from the test.
The TechAir airbag detected the imminent fall 60 milliseconds before the initial impact
Alpinestars airbag's electronic brain anticipated that Baz would crash and was inflated before he hit the Malaysian asphalt. It took 1.9 seconds between the moment when the rider lost control of the bike and the instant when he was launched from it.As Baz was leaving the bike, the Alpinestars TechAir airbag fired, and fractions of a second later, the rider impacted the track. The maximum impact force was recorded in his left shoulder and was a staggering 29.9 G.
For the sake of comparison, when Marc Marquez crashed at Mugello in 2013 at 340 km/h (over 211 mph), the peak impact force was 25 G, while Lorenzo sustained a broken collarbone after hitting the Assen asphalt with 22.5 G the same year.
Baz' slide on the track was 6.6 seconds long before coming to a complete stop, and you can tell by the looks of his tattered leathers that the trip was not the most pleasurable one. However, he literally walked away and was able to resume the tests later that day. Follow the link to see his leathers and watch the crash.
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