If you've thought to yourself that the MotoGP calendar in the modern era is a bit cram-packed, you're not alone. For most of the season, it feels like races seemingly flow one right after the other, sending the entire paddock flying on to the next race weekend almost immediately after the champagne has sprayed at the GP that just finished.
And then, after that seemingly nonstop flow of adrenaline, there's the summer break. While it might not be the three months that break up the school year in the US, for race fans, it can feel like an eternity in comparison to the rest of the season. But if you're a racer, it's clear that you can't ever stop training, even if race weekends are on hold for the time being.
Not if you want to win, anyway.
While it's true that every racer might have different ways of approaching things, one thing all of them have in common is that they will keep training in the best way they see fit, no matter when or where they are. For SuperFile Trackhouse Aprilia MotoGP racer Ai Ogura, that includes hitting his local motocross track, the same way he's done ever since he was a tiny child.
It means going through all the regular pre-ride checks, systematically adjusting things, checking tire pressures, and dialing the bike in with his brain and his fingers and his feet, taking a lifetime of experience and applying it to the minute adjustments that bring the level of performance he's looking to find. As a racer, you may not be able to control everything. But the things that are in your control will absolutely be dealt with to the best of your ability.
As a person who didn't grow up riding dirt, the thing that always blows my mind about riders who've mastered it is how quickly and easily they're able to adapt to changing conditions. Then again, the younger you start training any type of activity, the more second nature it becomes. If you're lucky, your muscle memory develops so strongly that you're able to just do exactly what needs to be done, without taking crucial seconds for your brain to calculate what the best next step is.
Watching Ogura get into the flow of things, then adapt to the changing conditions on the course as he flies through the air, is a treat. He may be a man of few words, but that's probably because he's saying everything he needs to say with his bike. Watch this video and see if you don't agree.
