Sepp Mächler

Sometimes you need your elbows.

You might think that leaving the ideal line is not desirable. But this is precisely where success lies. You have to leave the line that everyone rides in order to get ahead. The raw knee and elbow slides come free with the corners.

How would you describe the HP4 RACE in one sentence?

Incredibly light, easy to handle and fast. But I could pick out any part of the motorcycle and talk about it all night long.

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The HP4 RACE stands for emotions. What emotions did you feel while you were developing it?

For me it's a childhood dream to finally build a proper racing machine. I was so excited to find out what it felt like to sit atop it for the first time. I was like a child at Christmas: "Is it ready yet?" and "When do I get to ride it for the first time?".

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When was it ready for the first time then?

I rode it properly on the racetrack and for longer at a stretch in the middle of last year. And I could immediately tell that it was precisely what we had in mind. From this point onwards its was primarily a case of fine tuning, but the motorcycle itself was finished.

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"

I should really overtake now. But there is no gap – I'll try anyway. "

Sepp Mächler

As a former "racer" and active racetrack instructor, you must know at what point motorcycling becomes crazy?

Motorcycling is always a little bit crazy, because it's a case of pure emotions. It is of course also exciting when you are up against someone else out on the racetrack. Thoughts such as "I should really overtake now, but there is no gap - I'll try anyway" are crazy.

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Where do the challenges lie with a racing motorcycle compared to a normal motorcycle?

The challenge lies in the fact that the racing motorcycle is made for one person. The setup of a racing motorcycle is done for precisely one person e.g. for Peter Hickman or Valentina Rossi. With the HP4 RACE, you get the feeling that the motorcycle would suit anyone just fine. Regardless of whether you are setting a new lap record at the Isle of Man TT or missing the lap record by a mere 30 seconds in Brünn – it has to work for everyone. This is actually the main difference between the HP4 RACE and a racing motorcycle. The racing motorcycle is for person X. And with the HP4 RACE it really doesn't matter – it simply works.

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Does this mean that the HP4 RACE is a racing motorcycle at heart but a standard bike when it comes to everything else?

Yes, or rather a small series from the factory. The thing is that all racers have their own personal preferences. One wants a brutally hard fork, the other a brutally hard tail or aggressive brakes. But sometimes a racer goes in the wrong direction because he is not prepared to leave his normal course and try something new. With the HP4 RACE, every racer who has test ridden it until now has said that it is an excellent motorcycle.

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The main focus area is of course on the frame and rims, which are fully carbon. What is special about it?

We actually know carbon from the trim (Carbonview), which is made out of fabric. The frame is made of stitched fabric (Carbondrive), which is a continuous filament which lies in one direction. The second layer is another endless filament which is at a certain angle to the first. This allows us to precisely set the flex and torsion of the frame. This actually becomes that much stiffer with the visual carbon the more carbon is used, while the flex reduces. This is the advantage of our main frame, namely the fact that it can do precisely what we hoped it would.

For the wheels it's the weight. With carbon, everything gets even lighter and the weight reduction is felt on the outside on the wheel, in that there is less oscillating force. So when accelerating you don't have to accelerate the wheel and when braking you don't have to brake the wheel. This allows you to accelerate faster, brake later and change direction faster too. Furthermore, the wheel also has better damping than a forged or standard wheel.

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Is it possible to say that with the HP4 RACE all weight has been shed that was not absolutely essential?

Everything was reduced down to the bare minimum and trimmed to racing motorcycle standards. We wanted to make an ultra-light motorcycle. If we had had more time, it would have been even lighter, but at some point you have to actually finish the motorcycle (he laughs). We fitted titanium screws wherever possible. Gear wheels were made differently, thinner chains were used. No stone was left unturned. The goal was to make the machine as light as possible. The question was raised as to why the engine protectors on the right and left are not made of carbon. Plastic is just as light, so it only made sense to use carbon wherever this would give us an advantage.

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Do you think it could have been any more minimalistic?

It's always possible to do more, but it gets more and more expensive to find a balance. We set the bar very high here.

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In the HP4 RACE there is a phenomenal attention to detail, and the development time was considerably shorter than with other models. How is it possible to make such a great bike with so much passion in such a short time?

At under 2 years, we didn't have a lot of time and it only worked because everyone in the team really gave it their all. No one was allowed to simply take a break, we were all working at full throttle. Everyone in the team is actually a super sportsperson. Someone who trains every morning in order to run a marathon. And you can't just start training a week before for a marathon. It was only because everyone involved with the project was working at full throttle that we managed it in the short time frame.

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Does that mean you reached your limits during the course of this project?

Yes, several of us definitely reached our limits. But because we were such a well-oiled team, we got past it. Having each other's back or moving mountains for each other is what is really important.

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Do you enjoy attempting the seemingly impossible time and again?

It's fun but also tiring (laughing). It is incredibly good fun but you also need a break every now and again. After all, the national team doesn't start playing in the next tournament immediately after the world cup.

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Have you got better at what you do by working on the HP4 RACE?

More efficient. We examined how to make processes faster and more efficient. All areas benefit from a project like this. The premise for the first RR was: "We will do anything that will make us faster." So for each decision we simply had to ask ourselves: "Will it make us faster?" If the answer was yes, we did it - if not, we didn't. If you keep returning to the objective, you will eventually succeed. You need a target.

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How does it feel to ride the bike now?

Fantastic (laughing). It really is. You are riding a factory racer, how else can you describe it?! Maybe like this: you want to fly on holiday and instead of the scheduled airline a Concorde is waiting for you on the airstrip.

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What is your personal highlight of this bike?

The ease of riding. The traction control that talks to you, the so-called ignition cut, so that you know that you can give it the full throttle. What fascinates me is that the vehicle does what you want it to and helps you to push the limits of your riding skill. The motorcycle speaks and you feel the asphalt. You can tell the motorcycle always wants more. Some motorcycles suddenly feel strange when they reach their limits; you can barely feel where the limit is anymore. But until now, I always felt it (laughing).

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Built in Berlin.

A glimpse into the manufactory of the HP4 RACE.

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Sepp Mächler

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