Davies explores wind-tunnel advantage

With round four of the 2013 Superbike World Championship set to grip the ultra-high-speed Italian circuit of Monza this weekend, riders will be looking for every speed advantage they can get. And, in the case of BMW Motorrad GoldBet rider Chaz Davies, that meant spending some ‘quality time’ on his S 1000 RR in BMW’s wind tunnel in Munich, Germany.

There Davies fine-tuned his riding position to gain an optimal aerodynamic profile, just as his teammate, Marco Melandri, had done last year in his first season with BMW. At 183cm tall Davies is taller than your average Superbike pilot, adding extra importance to the session’s outcome.

According to Stephan Fischer, Technical Director BMW Motorrad Motorsport, a rider’s body position is of crucial importance. “The riding position is a main factor for the aerodynamic efficiency of the overall package of rider and bike,” he said. “The positions of the head and the upper body, of elbows, knees and feet, can have an enormous influence on the drag, and subsequently on lap times. This is especially so at a race track like Monza with its long and ultra-fast straights.

“Of course, there is not one position that is the optimum for all riders, because it all depends on so many different individual factors, beginning with height and stature. The intensive work in the wind tunnel enabled Chaz to find out what riding position is the best for him personally. We did the same with Marco last year and it helped him a lot to achieve improved aerodynamic efficiency on his RR. We are convinced that we now will have a similar positive result with Chaz.”

Chaz, who experimented with a variety of positions at simulated speeds of up to 240km/h, said his time in the tunnel was well spent. “It was a really interesting afternoon”, he said. “When testing on a track, you try new development parts and different settings but you are not working on your body. So it was great to experiment in a stable environment with my riding position -- to move myself around on the bike, to have my elbows and shoulders in different positions and to then see in the data the difference it makes.

“I have learnt that I have to try and get myself inside the bike sooner on the exit of the corner in order to reduce the drag and be faster on the straights. It was good to see what difference that will make if we can improve that for the next race. Especially on a track like Monza, the aerodynamic efficiency is very important because every lap we are wide open for much longer than any other circuit on the calendar. Having the right riding position helps me to make best use of the powerful BMW engine on the straights.”