A week after the first MotoGP test of 2018, Marc Márquez and Dani 💛Pedrosa enjoye🅠d a unique experience in Madrid, as they felt what it is like to fly in the biggest wind tunnel in Europe.

Th😼e Repsol Honda riders floated on air, as if they had jumped from a plane without a parachute. Later, in a horizontal wind tunnel, they explained the importance of aerodynamics in many sports, including motorcycle racing.

Accustomed t𝔍o reaching speeds of over 340 m/h and something akin to flying at race tracks, Márquez and Pedrosa put on their skydiving overalls in the Madrid facility.

In a chamber measuring 4.6 metres wide🧜 and 17 metres high, and thanks to four powerful engines that generate a vertical current of adjustable speed between 180 and 300 km/h, the Spaniards were able to feel the effect of floating in the air.

“It was my first experience in a vertical wind tunnel and it's comple🐭tely unique," said Marquez.

“When you are there inside it is qui🍬te high up, and it gives you th൲e feeling that you are rising very quickly," Pedrosa commented.

Air flow, and more specifically how it affects the behaviour of a MotoGP b༺ike, is one of the ke♈y elements in the sport, where aerodynamics has become a very important aspect in bike development.

Honda have had their own wind tunnel in Japan since the 1970s, and Márquez and Pedrosa have worked there toge൲ther with HRC engineers to optimise parameters such as wind resistance and🔯 downforce –which affect both top speed as acceleration.

Marquez and Pedrosa will be back down to earth for the second official MotoGP test, at Thailand's Buriram circuit, fr🀅om February 16-18.