My Interview with Nicky Hayden's Crew Chief

[JackoliciousLegs]

The RC212V's V4 uses an irregular firing order where 2 cylinders fire very close together (almost simultaneously), followed by a long pause, then the other two cylinders fire closely together. In a regular firing order all four cylinder firings are evenly spaced out. The advantage of 'big bang' is that it gives the tire more time to regain traction between power pulses which helps put the power to the ground and makes the bike more ridable. The disadvantages are that it reduces crank longevity and saps power. Currently the only bike in Moto GP that uses the regular firing order is the Ducati GP7.

Wow... that's amazing. I had no idea...