![]() ![]() Nervous riders tend to play with the gas more! Number 3 Many riders blip the throttle before the red lights go out to start a race, but they do it for no real reason. LC also adjusts the rev limiter, so the rider can fully open the throttle without danger of over-revving, and therefore concentrate solely on throttle/clutch balance. The system switches out of LC the moment the rider starts decelerating into the first corner. ![]() This signifies the rider pressing a button on the left handlebar to actuate the LC strategies. White rectangle is LC (launch control) actuation You may have noticed that many riders do get sideways during race starts, despite launch control this is because launch control doesn’t operate the traction-control system, it only operates anti-wheelie.Īs always with these data analysis graphs, don’t be put off by the apparently confusing mass of squiggly lines just focus on the numbers and associated captions. Now riders must do most of the work themselves, which most people think is the way it should be, because rider skill is better rewarded. But the factory software was clever enough to have the situation under control, supplying exactly the right amount of power to the rear tyre, so the rider could race towards the first turn fully in control with the front wheel no more than a few inches off the ground.Įventually most of the factories had similarly effective launch control, so it could be argued that this actually reduced safety, because all the riders arrived at the first corner at the same time. Without rider aids, this behaviour would’ve spelt instant disaster: a dead-cert loop-the-loop. Magneti Marelli have applied that concept to launch control as well as the other four rider aids: traction control, anti-wheelie, engine-braking control and anti-jerk.ĭuring the era of factory electronics, launch control became so effective that riders could use full throttle and dump the clutch when the red starter-lights were extinguished. But like all MotoGP rider aids, Dorna’s recently introduced unified software is significantly less clever than the tailormade software created by the factories during the first decade or so of MotoGP.ĭorna’s idea was to reverse rider-aid technologies to their original concept – to improve safety, rather than increase performance. Launch-control programmes are designed to help the rider use maximum acceleration when he dumps the clutch on 260 horsepower. This can result in the car bogging instead of launching cleanly.Īt the other extreme though, if the clutch switch turns off before the clutch engages, the engine RPM tends to flair before the clutch can bite.Īnd this defeats the point of the launch control system, making it hard to get consistency.This is what makes the start of a race more important than ever and this is why launch control was invented. It might not seem important, but this means that when you release the clutch to launch the car, the launch control system will remain active for a few moments after the clutch has begun to engage. ![]() Many factory cars are already equipped with a clutch switch, but often for simplicity this is placed at the top of the pedal. What we want the clutch switch to do is to switch right at the point the clutch starts to engage.Īnd understandably, this is going to be somewhere close to the floor. Many people make the mistake of incorrectly fitting the clutch switch.Īnd this in turn can cause some frustrating problems with the way the launch control system disengages. Since I've mentioned clutch switches, it's worth discussing a couple of tips here than can help improve the performance of your launch control system. ![]() The typical option here is to use a digital switch fitted to the clutch, or perhaps a button fitted to the handbrake or steering wheel that the driver can control.Īn alternative option available in some cases though is to use the wheel speed input to indicate when the car is stationary, and hence should enter launch control mode. We need to start with a method that can signal to the ECU that we want to enter launch control mode. The specifics of the set up will depend on the particular ECU, however the basic concept is still universal. A two step launch control is probably one of the most common ways of achieving launch control, so we'll start by dealing with the techniques needed to configure this. ![]()
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