How you take a corner in motocross racing can make all the difference in where you place. Take a corner just right and you'll pass the competition. Take it wrong and you'll be left in the dust.
Get Motocross Cornering Basics Down
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There are a lot of pointers for cornering, and all are easier to tell rather than to do, so just do all this perfectly through every corner!
- Weight the outside peg
- Press in with your outside knee
- Be forward on the seat
- Keep you outside elbow up
- Put your inside foot forward, not out to the side
- Look ahead
- Relax your upper body
- Face your shoulders where you want to go
- Keep your inside foot off the ground
- Stand while you brake, and sit down late
- Sit on the top corner of the seat
- Lean the bike, not your body
- Don't drag your foot
- Get your foot back on the peg as soon as you can
- Get on the gas early and smoothly
Choose Your Line
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There are line options through every corner, and the best line to take changes as good lines get worse and bad lines look better. You should practice different line choices so you have options as berms blow out, ruts get too deep, braking bumps get too big, passing opportunities open up, or you need to protect your position in a race.
RUN THE MAIN LINE
The main line is usually a middle-to-inside entry that pushes out on the exit. This can be the best line early in the day, but as the track develops usually becomes the roughest.
HUG THE INSIDE
The shortest way around a corner is the inside. This can be a fast line around the corner but you will exit slower. A good rule of thumb: The most important corner exit is the one before the track’s fastest straight—don’t give up too much momentum going into the longest straights.
SWEEP IT WIDE
This requires a lot more speed to not lose time on the inside line. This is a good line if you’re following someone who dives inside (never follow) or if there is a big jump on the corner’s exit and you want more speed, and to line up straight, for the take off.
SQUARE UP
This is turning sharper than the corner requires. Entering on the outside, squaring up, and exiting on the inside is a great alternate line for passing, but one that leaves the door wide open to get passed with a block pass if someone is behind you.
PROTECT THE INSIDE
If you have a faster racer behind you trying to get around, a good protection line is to enter on the far inside, then use the width of the track to keep speed as you turn to exit on the outside.
