Ask the proverbial biker on the street who wins world championship motorcycle race titles and most folk suggest it's down to the rider ... a legendary name like Rossi, Stoner, Marquez or Doohan who wins the races. Some will say it's down to the genius engineers building the bikes, like Gigi Dall'Igna or Massimo T amburini. A few might come up with the name of a race engineer like Jerry Burgess.
But there aren't many who will mention the factory test riders – the guys (and the odd girl) who put in the miles and laps behind the scenes to iron out problems, do shakedown tests on new bikes, or try out radical new components to see if they are worth the effort. Of course, race bike development is a team effort, with engineers, designers, technicians and engine tuners all essential. But without someone with the skills to go out on a track and test it at the pace required, it will all be for naught. Your top racer doesn't have the time to spend trying out 10 different aerodynamic packages or five new swingarms over a weekend – and they often won't have the experience or skills to do so. Young racers are there to win races, not bugger about on a damp test track with a bunch of chassis geeks and computer operators.
Michele Pirro is probably one of the few factory race test riders our
