Late Braking (or early braking ) MotoGP?

Question

Though vigorously denied - Rossi has been accused more than once of braking early. by more than a few riders.
To put this into perspective, a bike traveling at 200mph covers the best part of 100meters per second. 
these riders when in the slipstream are less than 20ft apart.
those of you that have either been to the track or observant enough to see them on screen will have seen the 50 - 100 - 150 marker boards. and will know the braking areas are between the 100 - 150 marks. 
when racing another rider in close proximity, you expect the guy in front to try to brake as late as possible to stop you doing so. 
Given that this happens in less than a second (by the distance covered)  Try this :-
your following the guy in front, (have been for several laps)
you see the corner approaching, 
You see your marker

Then you see the guy move before he gets there. arms flinch and shoulders rise.

What do you do ?
How dangerous is this tactic ?

Before anyone answers with you wouldnt do it because of the danger to yourself !!
These guys reaction times are beyond belief. Though the time allowed is very very short.

Any views ?

Wiggysan · Accepted Answer

Your right, it must be massive panic time ....... or is it ? Like you say, these guys are the best in the world and know what's going on.

Rossi is known to brake check a little more then most, even though he say's different, Casey fell at Laguna near the end of that amazing 08 race & the BBC team where blamming for break checking to early. Rubbish I say.

As for the distance covered, its mind boggerling to be honest. The idea of going over so much ground in a short length of time is mad !

It is a dangeous tatic, but in saying that, if the riders wanted a no risk sport, they should play chess.

cybergofer · Answer

I think it's one of those things that happen so fast that you don't even have time to think, just to react or to dodge if you can heheh. Either that or just brace yourself :)

I imagine these guys are kind of synchronized like a ballet, having the routine done over and over until it's mechanized, and they feel, with confidence, the exact times to brake. 

But at that speed, I don't think there's much one can do when the rider who's slipstream you're following brakes unexpectedly. I tend to believe Rossi simply because by doing this, he would risk getting "rammed" from behind heheh. Even if these are greatest riders in the world, there's always that chance. :). Of course there's also the possibility that he really "turns off his brain" when he's racing (like he says) heheh, or that he's so experimented and so cool that he's able to calculate the exact amount of anticipation that has the right effect but with a calculated risk??... I'm really guessing here heheh :)

Ciccio · Answer

A guy like Rossi can brake as early or as late as he wants. We all know he beat Lorenzo last year with great moves and late braking in Catalunya

But brake testing is a two edged sword. On one hand you can fool your rivals about where your braking will take place. However smart and bold rivals can call your bluff and pass you unexpectedly.

As Vitor said, everything happens so fast, so fractions of a seconds really make the difference.

cadalora · Answer

[ i have too agree with all that as been said here,these guys are the best around. and Rossi's brake checking is something that they are aware of, and is probably Rossi's way of disrupting the rhythm and controlling the pace of the race to try and give himself an advantage.
it may seem a bit risky, they are the best and hey..! those are the breaks...<^><...

Anonymous · Answer

accelerate early and brake late

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Late Braking (or early braking ) MotoGP?

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