Why did Valentino Rossi start doing the leg dangle that most riders now use every lap? British stand-up comedian, actor and huge MotoGP™ fan Ross Noble thinks he may have the answer on this week’s Last On The Brakes MotoGP™ Podcast as he joins the team from his well-equipped bunker Down Under.
Making it harder for riders to pass, or doing it to see if everyone else was copying him? The ‘Doctor’s Dangle’ has swiftly become a household item in the world of motorcycle racing, but Noble has some theories about why it was invented by the nine-time World Champion. “You see, I’ve got this theory. You know how Rossi started the leg dangle, it was the sort of thing where he starts dangling the leg and he said at the time it was because of the way the bike was set up and it steadied them as he was going round the corner,” begins the Melbourne resident.
“Now I have two theories, 1. He started it because if someone’s going to try and overtake him up the inside, then it’ll buy him an extra 30cms. And he’s thinking no-one will risk snapping his leg. But I’ve sort of got this theory that he might have started doing it because he thought everyone was copying him. So when he retires, I think he’ll come out and say, “oh, you know that whole leg thing? Yeah, that wasn’t required. I literally did it to see if everyone else would copy!”
Leave us your thoughts on why the leg dangle was invented on MotoGP™’s social media channels. You can also let us know what your favourite celebrations are, another topic that Noble delves into.
“You know how the celebrations sometimes can be really tenuous, and you wonder why they’re doing them. [...] So we said (to Marc) why don’t you take a flower pot and put a flower pot on your head so that the press and all the fans are trying to work out what the significance of the flower pot is but I think he had bigger fish to fry. But if you’re winning as much as he is… why not?”
Click the links at the top of the article to have a listen to this week’s podcast, or you can watch it on YouTube! Here are some of the other topics you can look forward to on Last On The Brakes this week:
- Phillip Island: rider’s paradise?
- How Ross got into riding motorcycles
- Slow speed trials vs high speed racing
- How the physical aspect of riding has changed
- When Ross met Marc Marquez
- How riders should mess around with the media and their competitors
- Ross’ mega motorcycle adventures
- Using a TV career to fund your motorcycle obsession?
- Favourite things about MotoGP™
- Kenwood ‘Not So’ Quickfire
- Ross’ Podcast!
Images courtesy: John McMurtrie and Matt Stronge