The wheel chop – it’s one of the most helpless feelings you can have as a road racer. You’re leaned over going through a turn and a competitor comes around the outside and cuts right in front of you. If you don’t react quickly enough and your front tire gets hit, in all likelihood you are going to hit the ground.
It’s called a wheel chop and any motorcycle racer who has raced long enough has experienced it. I remember getting a wicked wheel chop on my very first road race weekend and hitting the ground (thanks Joe Cotton, wherever you are). Once I picked myself off the ground and had my bike trucked back to the pits, the first person I wanted to see was Mr. Cotton and my intentions weren’t friendly.
The wheel chop is the dirtiest trick on two wheels. If you’re on a motocross bike, OK, you hit the ground and maybe get back up and keep going, but on a flat tracker or road racer at higher speeds, you’re talking potential injury and major bike damage when someone takes you out like that.
The wheel chop is back in the news after the Marco Simoncelli and Dani Pedrosa incident at Le Mans yesterday where Simoncelli cut in front of Pedrosa resulting in Pedrosa crashing.
I had a former AMA Superbike racer call me saying that he thought the pass was tough, but not dirty. He claims that Pedrosa could have backed off and let Simoncelli by, but instead tried to stay on the gas resulting in the collision.
Larry Pegrams chops the front wheel of Marty Craggill at Road Atlanta in 2007. Craggill managed to keep it on two wheels. (Larry Lawrence photo)
Even though I respect this rider’s opinion, I’m not so sure I agree. In my years as a racing photographer and journalist I’ve seen my share of wheel chops. Here’s a picture of Larry Pegram throwing a ruthless chop on Marty Craggill at Road Atlanta in 2007, that I captured on camera. Craggill got hit and stood up, but somehow saved it and didn’t go down. I’m guessing Craggill had a few words with Pegram shortly after.
The question in these kinds of incidents usually boils down to this – Did the rider in front intentionally cut off the other rider or did he think he was clear? And – Could the rider getting chopped have backed off in order to avoid the collision? There are degrees of blame of course in these types of collisions as well. Sometimes the rider cuts across knowing it’s close, but thinking (or hoping) he has enough room. Maybe the rider being chopped sees the rider coming across, but thinks that the other rider won’t tighten up his radius any further and cause a collision.
In this case I think it’s a little of both. Simoncelli looks to have gotten into the turn a tad hot, and has to flick his bike really hard to make the corner. I think Pedrosa saw what was coming, but didn’t react quickly enough then got on the brakes late, which compounded the problem by standing his bike up just a tad.
In the end I think it was a riding mistake by Simoncelli, not intentional, but sloppy nevertheless. I would never call it a clean or even fair pass, but I don’t believe he was trying to be dirty.
In this case I think the race director did exactly the appropriate thing by having Simoncelli come into pit lane for a ride-through penalty. The punishment fit the crime.
Unfortunately that doesn’t help Pedrosa, who suffered a broken collarbone in the crash. Hopefully he’ll recover quickly enough to continue in the championship chase.
Simoncelli will likely be more careful in the future because of this incident I’m sure, as will the riders who find themselves racing wheel to wheel against him.
I’d love to hear what you think. Leave your thoughts and comments below in the comment section or on our Facebook page.
Rider Files 
I’m also uncertain about the pass. Dani surely had to know he was there and just as surely seen him coming. It was, “agressive” to say the least but, it depends on the camera angle you saw. At first I thought Pedrosa ran into Simo’s rear. Then the camera angle exposed that he (Simoncelli)did get in pretty hot. I’d rather that Pedrosa had not gone down and been passed and beaten fair and square. As much as I dislike Pedrosa, I don’t like to see any rider hurt.
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Oh, by the way. That’s a very good picture for a journalist, Larry.
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It is the responsibility of the racer in back for overtaking and passing the rider in front in a safe manner. We have no mirrors on race bikes. If a crash occurs, it is the overtaking riders fault. He should pay for the damages.
As the late Al Wilcox put it, “No con jobs!”
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Not a fan of Sim or Ped BUT a fan of the BALLS and talent outside faster pass. Petty, Mears, Roberts, Dale Quarterly school.
A break down of the turn.
Ped chose a tighter radius BLOCKING line forcing Sim to a wider faster line through the turn.
Sim broke later and was faster all the way through the turn, thus why Ped hit the rear wheel as Sim was accelerating away. Notice Sim is raising the bike and pulling away speed and increasing radius at the same time. This is adding weight to the rear wheel.
Physicist and the math is on Sim’s side.
The collision was after both of the riders chosen apex of the turn. Both were in a increasing radius drive on the track out of the turn gassing it. The throttle UP time can ONLY be done on a increasing radius part of a turn while lifting the bike. If you throttle up in a decreasing radius, and or while leaning farther over, wheel spin will happen with over steer slide. This mistake un-weights the rear wheel, lose traction. Most people fall, or scare the @#$% out of themselves doing this. Try it.
Inertia is a bitch.
Ped saw Sim on the outside and throttled up to keep up after hitting the front break a little causing the bike to stand up. Losing the ability to tighten the turn and avoid a collision with the faster Sim. Euro trash RR only riding, going to the front brake. Old school US dirt would have chopped throttle, tap rear break and tighten radius and got to keep racing.
A true wheel chop occurs when ENTERING a turn with decreasing converging radius BEFORE the given apex’s are reached. This leave the inside man with no were to go to avoid the collisions. Inside man is already slowing down and his only choice is to lean tighter over to hit the outsider and maybe escape or knock the outside man down. Once again physics and moments of inertia laws. That damn Isac Newton.
Sim put Ped in a position to chose slow down and try and chase me down or risk falling. There was time and space for Ped to back off and race.
In the words of the the old Templar Knight of Indiana Jones, He chose poorly. Being fast does not mean you know how to race. Sims knows how to race. Ped just knows how to go fast.
RT
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Do you have footage of Pedrosa taking out Nikki Hayden?
Mr. Hampton nails it …
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The above analysis is a bit confused. If Pedrosa had chopped his throttle he’d have crashed just for that, and he did not add speed mid-corner.
Correct or wrong, Pedrosa judged that Simoncelli was going to collect his front and so he felt the need to slow a bit. Cutting speed required Pedrosa to simultaneously lift the bike. I’m not sure non-racers understand that, at the pace these guys run, reducing speed at mid-corner overloads the front causing it to wash out. It might be surprising to learn that to avoid crashing while slowing at mid-corner requires standing the bike up while speed is reduced, which is maybe counter intuitive. Cornering at a reduced speed allows a tighter line, but reducing the speed while cornering requires a wider line because of the weight shift it causes. So Pedrosa did not stand up the bike because he was adding speed, he stood it up because he was trying to reduce his speed. And it was not the act of braking that caused the bike to stand up, he was active in having it stand up. Only a shocked neophyte would suffer an out-of-control change in line due to braking forces. He likely anticipated that this would result in conflicting lines but had to gamble that he could slow enough to miss contact. It was his best option from where he was sitting.
This is why this incident looks dumb to non racers, looking as though Pedrosa purposely stood his bike up and rammed Simoncelli, maybe even using the throttle. But no, he was actually doing all he could to protect his front and knew that any contact with it was going to be worse for him than for Simoncelli.
I’m no fan of Pedrosa so it pains me to clarify the dymanamics of this incident. We have seen him do meatheaded things but this wasn’t one of them.
peter jones
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I in the day, chopped the throttle and tap rear to avoid such collisions, and yes the front slides. That is why you have the knee down and do it smoothly all at once. If you over slide the front then you lift the bike to get traction. And this tightens the rolling radius by turning the handlebars INTO the turn and lifts the bike. Not done correctly results in the TV’s favor high light film, the front end high side. The physics and geometry can clearly be explained on paper. I have done it with several racing factory engineers in the past.
Your weight shift to wider geometry to slow down is in error, Period. At least for pro-riders who can ride with a front push under both slowing and accelerating track actions on the track.
All this involves multiple moments of inertia and center of mass pivot points.
First is the contact of the tires pivot point; a type one lever. The second is the center mass of the bike rider combo pivot point or axis of mass.
Oh, back in the day of Not being a non racer.I won the first WERA Superbike race at Road America in only my second amateur road race from 80th place on the grid, I was up to second on lap one.
Pro days.
I qualified on the front row of a Camel pro Dayton Superbike race and many, many second and row starts on the Camel pro tour. Ran heads up with the likes of Dale Quartarly, Rich Oliver, Randy Rinfro, Roberto Pietre Etc… Beat the likes of Quartaly, Rich Oliver, Roberto Pietre and Jimmy Felice etc…
I did testing days for FOX Shox, Dunlop, Goodyear, Michelin, Eric Buel Racing “brakes” etc… in the 80’s. They liked my detail analytical feed back to changes and ability to discuses the science and behavior of the equipment.
I am recognized by the US Dept. of Labor as a Tool & Die eng.
I studied Theoretical Physics in Collage.
Hold a couple US mechanical patents.
Finally
The collision occurred exiting the turn! Sim was clearly ahead and widening his arc out of the turn at the point of collision. You can not repeat can not accelerate at the limits of adhesion and DECREASE your radius. Ped just had to slow down when he normally would be accelerating to avoid hitting Sim. His instinct to go fast and not concede that he was out race in the corner caused the collision. The Doc and Nicky would not make this race craft mistake. Most top pros in AMA would not ether. They do not have every corner monitored in the tower to baby-sit them.
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Your credentials are indisputable.
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