How Öhlins suspension help race teams in Asia find the right “feeling”

Asia Road Racing Championship
Öhlins Technical Support

How Öhlins suspension help race teams in Asia find the right
“feeling”

Front and rear suspension determines the “feeling” riders need as they search for the most readable signals of the motorcycle interacting with the racetrack surface.

To help teams in this search, Öhlins experts are carefully allocated to riders, so that advanced suspension technology can be applied to suit different riding styles.

And it’s a huge responsibility. Hisazumi Takasaki, who manages the Ohlins Racing Race Support Team, said: “We use Technicians with experience in Ohlins products and racing. They need to communicate well in English, which is normally the default technical language at International events such as the Asia Road Racing Championship.”

The right “feeling” is crucial to fast lap times, a place near the front of the grid and the consistency of performance needed to race ahead of the pack.

Former Yamaha race engineer Takasaki added: “Racing is Öhlins. It is the perfect platform on which we can develop the most advanced suspension technology - then constantly fine-tune it. This is the Öhlins way.”

The Asia Road Racing Championship (ARRC) has been a success story since inception in 1996 - to become Asia’s premier motorcycle series.

Year 2019 saw introduction of the Asia Superbike 1000 class, complementing the Underbone 150, Production 250 and Supersport 600 categories.

The ARRC attracts official teams from major manufacturers throughout the region and sees hundreds of riders chasing the same dream - to be champion.

Normally based in Sweden, Öhlins Motorcycle Racing General Manager Mats Larsson attended the ARRC’s round at Buriram in Thailand to see the Öhlins team in action.

He said: “Öhlins Racing is well known for technical service to MotoGP and World Superbike, but the ARRC is now under our umbrella too - especially as Asia is starting to produce world-class riders. Öhlins looks back on a rich racing heritage and feels a responsibility to provide the same level of technical support wherever in the world it is needed.”

Any competitor using an Öhlins product will get track support from the company, but the main teams opt for a Full Time Service Contract.Any competitor using an Öhlins product will get track support from the company, but the main teams opt for a Full Time Service Contract.

Ohlins Racing Race Technician Byron Draper said: “This means the team has a dedicated Öhlins Technician to take care of maintenance work at the race event and any particular changes to settings required by riders throughout the weekend.”

He explained how the company fields a team of Öhlins Technicians at an event such as the ARRC, where they establish a workshop equipped with a large stock of prings, spare parts and whatever crash parts might be needed.

A typical weekend’s racing itinerary sees the Ohlins Racing ARRC Team arriving at a circuit on the Thursday, ready to perform maintenance and adjustments, or apply the latest upgrades from HQ to those teams holding a Full Time Service Contract.

The Friday is spent setting-up during practice sessions and fine-tuning along the way, as riders and their technicians dial-in the bikes.

Saturday starts with a warm-up session, during which any final settings can be tested before Race 1. This is repeated on Sunday before Race 2, after which the Öhlins workshop is packed back into flight cases, loaded into containers and shipped to the next race.

Draper said: “We feel really proud when one of our riders scores a win. But the most important thing is knowing we have supported riders to the best of our ability and utmost satisfaction of the team.”

Riders are always on a quest for the right “feeling” from their motorcycles. This is about mechanical feedback through the bars, seat and footpegs.

The best “feeling” communicates the way a tyre makes contact with asphalt, or the way the chassis reacts to braking, turning into a corner at half lean, full lean, or even upright on the straight at full speed.

Each and every rider’s style is different and all strive for a superior level of confidence generated by this mysterious and elusive thing called “feeling”.

Frame and engine configuration can contribute to “feeling”, but it’s the suspension and tyres that occupy the minds of riders and technicians during a race weekend. And of the two, suspension offers the most variables and is easiest to adjust.

Byron Draper explained: “A common request from a new customer is ‘I don’t have enough feeling. I can’t feel what’s going on with the front or rear tyre’. This is really down to individual rider interpretation, but the best way to describe the situation is the suspension functions as a ‘filter’ between tyre and rider.”

He added: “We have to learn how the rider wants to interpret this ‘filter’, then strike a balance between the set-up being comfortable enough to ride the bike and the suspension working to best possible effect. We then reduce that ‘filter’ as much as possible to give the rider greater direct connectivity.”

An outstanding Öhlins strength is continuous feedback on “feeling” from MotoGP, World Superbike and National Superbike Technicians - all resulting in the widest range of solutions offered by any of the world’s top suspension manufacturers.

Require technical support to compete in an Asian championship? Then contact Hisazumi Takasaki hisazumi.takasaki@ohlins.se or your country’s official Öhlins Distributor.

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