An example of one of the ‘curiosities’ seen now and again in the paddock was found almost two weeks ago at Ernee for the Grand Prix of France. At arguably his most important race of the year Gautier Paulin was spotted with technicians activating a switch near his brake footpeg to lower the rear end of the works KX450F during start practice immediately after the pre-qualification session on Saturday.

Motocrossers have been using a front fork ‘catch’ to hook onto the forkguards and compress the suspension for starts for over ten years. It was a device pioneered by former Grand Prix rider Corrado Maddii. It seems KRT have now found a way to activate the rear suspension as well, giving Paulin’s KX450F a bizarre low-ride effect just as he rolls into the gate.

We spoke with KRT Team Manager Francois Lamariey. Understandably he didn’t reveal much but explained that the shock is compressed with the help of a small blocking mechanism that is then released when Paulin gets on the gas.

“It is something we have developed ourselves and we went through quite a few tests until we were happy we could use it for Grand Prix,” he said. “The goal is to increase the maximum amount of traction. While the front suspension catch stops the bike from rising too much in the first metres this item keeps the rear in as close contact with the ground as possible.”

At France it seemed to work. Paulin launched well in the first moto and was able to achieve the rare feat of catching and passing World Champion Tony Cairoli for an immensely popular victory in front of a capacity crowd. In the second he was again near the holeshot but was held-up by the falling Max Nagl. “I cannot tell you!” said Lamariey when quizzed about how many millimetres the innovation had on the rear suspension and who neither felt the need to demonstrate the system to us. Watch the coming weekends in Sweden, Latvia and Finland as Paulin heads into his gate slot, and see if the ‘21’ machine heads the pack coming around the first turn like he did at Maggiora.