Why do Red Bull KTM Factory Racing have their own dedicated physiotherapist and a tight program with the Red Bull Athlete Performance Centre for MotoGP?
By Adam Wheeler
Flavio Dromi is hard to miss. The 34-year-old’s tall frame moves around the Red Bull KTM Factory Racing pitbox and structure at MotoGP Grands Prix with authority. Sporting a long triangular beard and imposing sunglasses he looks like a bodyguard. In truth, the softly spoken Italian is an expert at dealing with pain rather than dealing it out.
Flavio’s presence at every single round of the 20-race MotoGP championship is part of KTM’s health program for its riders and a joint effort with the Red Bull Athlete Performance Center (APC) to ensure that MotoGP and KTM GP Academy talent can maximize the potential of their multi-million-euro race machinery. Dromi’s main charges in 2024 have been Brad Binder and Jack Miller and he has been especially busy lately as the series visited San Marino, Indonesia, Japan, Australia, Thailand and Malaysia in eight weeks. The finale is fast approaching and will bring an end to a campaign that began with the first pre-season test in Malaysia in February.
KTM spend a considerable amount of money to go Grand Prix racing each year. The most crucial part of that investment lies in the hands and bravery of the riders. Therefore, it pays to keep them in the best possible shape because inevitably, they will hit the pavement at some point. In 2024, and prior to the penultimate Grand Prix at Sepang, Binder and Miller were unseated 34 times. “There is a 50-50 chance you will come out the other side. You might not. It’s the gamble you have to take quite often,” Jack said on the need to push limits staying on two wheels for a flying lap in qualification.
Dromi has a packed daily schedule at a Grand Prix. “As a physiotherapist I try to help the guys stay healthy with their muscular system because MotoGP is a tough sport for the arms but also the whole body,” he says. “I usually perform a session each day for each rider to reduce the tension and be ready for the next time on track. We try to prevent problems. If there are issues then we try to fix them or decrease them, like pain or stiffness through muscle tissue release. We also try and have maximum mobility in the joints, so they are comfortable while riding because the bike is demanding for stress and for strength. They need to be relaxed but also very powerful.”
Braking, acceleration, changing direction, aerodynamic load, high heartrates: MotoGP requires an elevated physical intensity. Dromi is already planning the likely workload of a Grand Prix even before the team travel to the circuit. “The first thing we have to consider is the layout of the track,” explains Flavio, who was a motorcycle racing fan as a kid and is now into his second term with KTM in MotoGP and fourth year as part of Red Bull’s APC. “There might be more left corners than right. If there are more fast corners and they have to turn the bike quickly then this can be harder for them and for the forearms. If there is a lot of braking then the demands are more on the shoulders. The upper body takes some punishment. The bottom half too. If it’s raining then they’ll need to open the hips more for greater control in the apex and this can bring more pain than usual.”
Then there are the consequences of a spill. “When they crash it can be just a small slide, or it can be worse, such as the highside: these crashes can produce bone fractures and we have to manage inflammation and pain. They usually don’t like to take painkillers because they can have side-effects: they want to make sure they have a 330kmph bike under control! It’s the last option, and Jack and Brad are quite good with this, they are able to manage the pain.”
To the fans and the TV viewers MotoGP can be deceptive. Riders crash but are normally ferried back to the pitbox quickly and are straight back on the fastest lap-times with the second motorcycle. Aside from the mental demands of embracing these risks and health hazards there is also the bangs, scrapes and contusions that don’t surface until later and the hits, discomfort and sleepless nights that people never see. “There are always repercussions,” Dromi states. “Maybe immediately afterwards they will not say they have a bad feeling because of the adrenaline. It’s an important hormone in our body and after a crash it is normally very high but after thirty minutes or an hour and when it has dropped then the feeling of pain increases and they cannot make normal movements. That’s when our work starts: to try and help them be better for the next session. Usually there is very little time and there is a lot for them to do: media, meetings, promotions. We try to manage the time we have.”
A mechanic or technician will be in the pitbox repairing or preparing the KTM RC16 meanwhile Flavio will be fixing the rider. “Especially after a big crash where there are some specific areas involved and what you need to do is look at the more painful parts and what is most important to fix in such a short time,” he says. “We ask them for a ‘grade’ in pain and try to bring those numbers down in the shortest time possible. Physiotherapy is an approach, sometimes it is manual, sometimes with equipment but if it is manual the treatment cannot be that long because it is another form of stress for the body. We are not magicians, we are just trying to ask the body to recover faster. If you treat too much then it can have the opposite effect.”
As the technical crew have access to all the data for the bike and specialists both at the track and back at Motorsport HQ in Austria, Flavio has the physical records assembled by Binder and Miller’s time at the APC at Thalgau. The South African and Australian visit Austria for a couple of days at the beginning of each year and set their ‘references’. “The cool thing about the APC is that they keep an eye on you all the way through the season,” Binder says. “When you go there then you do all sorts of different tests; the endurance test is fairly normal but then you have upper body, lower body and reaction stuff. They give you a baseline in each area and a good understanding of the areas to improve in and become an all-round better athlete. There is also the opportunity to work with their nutritionists, their coaches, their doctors for injury. It feels like an advantage.”
“MotoGP is one of the biggest programs for following athletes [at the APC] and to be part of this program is a big pleasure,” Flavio remarks. “The APC will have reports and conditioning coaches that will be helping them to increase performance. There is also nutrition and psychological support. This is why the APC is an important part of the Red Bull world, and we help them from every point of view.”
“We are a team,” he adds on the APC. “We share all the data of the riders. Once we understood how to work and to create a big network then it was fine because this is only the second year of a full program for MotoGP.”
“It’s cool to have it at your fingertips, especially for the physios, trainers and their program and understanding test results: a full health check,” Miller opines. “It runs all the way through the season and that helps with keeping a hand on your levels, your blood and your performance. It’s been fantastic.”
Miller, 29-years-old, has rarely looked fitter in his decade-long MotoGP tenure than he does in 2024. “It's working closely with the APC,” he claims. “I did my own program for the last ten years or so and then this year we made that step for a different training program and either when I’m in Australia or Andorra I’d have it to follow or the results of the work emailed to me. They program the runs or cycles to the heartrates we need to hit. It might be a four-hour session and then they’ll check my levels and have someone with a lot of knowledge going over the information.”
Flavio bonded with both Binder and Miller in 2023 and 2024 but also the other riders in the KTM Grand Prix roster. He is one of the ‘unsung’ and valuable members of the 60-strong MotoGP crew that strive for the best results on track and in front of the cameras. “It's great to have Flavio here because very seldom are you at 100% when you’re a bike rider,” Binder states. “It’s not just falling off at the track but also during training! It all adds up during a season. He’s a great help, especially with small knocks and niggles. You build a relationship and then work out what’s best for you.”