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Moving a wheel from one MotoGP bike to another sounds like a simple enough task. But consider that Dani Pedrosa’s mechanics can do it in a couple of minutes while knowing that a small mistake could mean disaster.

At Silverstone I watched them move the front tire/wheel from this bike to his other. The two mechanics worked nearly as one, having repeated the process many times. And a process it is, refined from practice. Sometimes each mechanic would work on his task at the same time the other was working on his. But other times one step had to happen before the next step could begin.

One mechanic would wait, hands in position and ready to go, for the other to finish what he was doing before moving on to the next item on the process list. As I recall, after removing the axle nut, the mechanic on the right waited for the other guy to finish removing those bolts. Then they worked together to slide the axel out and pull the brake rotors out from the calipers. With the wheel free, they moved as a team to the other bike to reverse the process and install the wheel on bike #2.

Just think for a moment about doing a job like this, knowing that in a few more minutes, Dani Pedrosa would be at full stick on the Hangar Straight before grabbing a handful of front brake. You and your partner are responsible for making sure every nut is tight, every safety measure is in place, that every part of the RC213V’s stopping system works flawlessly.

Then take another moment to think about it from Dani’s perspective. You’ve left the pits, cruised around Copse, gained speed through Maggots, Becketts and Chapel, and as you hurtle toward Stowe, you don’t want to be wondering if your guys got the last wheel change right, do you?

The riders get all the glory, but the mechanics also do amazing work under tremendous pressure.

Photograph: ©2014 by Scott Jones / PHOTO.GP – All Rights Reserved

Camera Info: Nikon D4 with Nikon 70-200mm f/2.8

[mgallery keyword=”Team Repsol Honda”]