Last week, in the suggestive location of the Hofburg Palace in Wien, took place the annual Event that celebrates the partnership between Sifi (the international ophthalmic company based in Catania, Sicily) and the LCR Honda Team.
The Event, hosted by SKY Italy commentator Zoran Filicic, took place during the XXXIV ESCRS (Congress of the European Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgeons, one of the main gathering for ophtalmologists from all over the planet), and saw LCR Honda riders Cal Crutchlow and Takaaki Nakagami, as well as Team Principal Lucio Cecchinello, as guests of honor.
The LCR squad, called on stage together with Sifi CEO Fabrizio Chines, talked about the recent successes of the Team, the current MotoGP Season and the long-term partnership with the Sicilian company. The main focus of the whole evening, however, was the presentation of the results of the ophtalmological tests performed on the LCR riders in the past few years, collected by doctor Stefano Barabino (University of Milan). Both LCR riders, in fact, are part of the ambitious “Driving Vision Science” scientific research, whose goal is to analyze how MotoGP riders’ eyes respond to the visual stress caused by riding at almost 360 km/h in very extreme conditions, and eventually find some solutions that could improve their visual comfort and their safety. The final statistics and data will be released soon in an official scientific publication.
Fabrizio Chines
(Sifi’s Chairman and CEO): “Our collaboration with the LCR Honda Team allowed us to carry out specific studies on visual performance in riders under stressful and normal conditions. The results were presented to the ophthalmic community during a very successful event at ESCRS, here in Vienna. We look forward to continuing this project in order to confirm these results and to better understand eventual changes of the ocular surface system and consequences of race competitions on the tear film and ocular surface.”
Lucio Cecchinello
(LCR Honda Team Principal): “First of all I want to thank Sifi, on behalf of all the Team, for hosting this beautiful event in such a wonderful location. We are honored and proud to be part of the #DrivingVisionScience study, that hopefully is going to be useful not only for motorbike professional riders, but also for all the sportsmen and sportswomen and, why not, all the people who drive or ride on a daily basis. The first data show that MotoGP riders’ skills are exceptional, of course, but according to those data, there still could be room for improvement, thanks to a specific eye-gym routine or specific supplements, such as eye drops.”
Cal Crutchlow
(LCR Honda CASTROL Rider): “I’m the veteran of this study, since I’ve been the first rider involved back in 2015. It’s quite interesting what we are discovering after every test. For instance, I’ve found out that normally I blink every 6-7 seconds, but when I’m riding (or I assume my riding position), I can even not blink for more than 3 minutes. I think MotoGP riders develop special visual skills after years of training, but thanks to the cooperation with Sifi we are getting more and more important information”.
Takaaki Nakagami
(LCR Honda IDEMITSU Rider): “I’m really pleased to be part of this nice event, and also I’m happy to be involved in the study. I’ve just joined #DrivingVisionScience this year but I’m glad I can give my contribution: every small detail or information that can improve our safety matters, and the vision is of course one of the most important aspects. Being in MotoGP, compared to other categories, it’s a completely different world: you have to be more trained physically, but also eyes and reflexes are fundamental. Once again, thanks Sifi for this opportunity”.
Press Release Courtesy of LCR Honda MotoGP Team
