why do GP racers hang their foot off the peg?

some other theories are
air brake/wind drag
increase seat down force/rear tire not lofting
balance
motomatters.com/opinion/2009/07/22/the_t..._rossi_leg_wave.html

I have been told air brake from a local rider.....

to help shift his weight would be my guess anyway,at 150 plus I dont think its helping much with the braking! :sick: :woohoo:

The article is three years old and Rossi and a lot of the rest of the riders are still throwing that leg out there. Perhaps if Spies can be "elbows", Rossi can be "shins"?

I have never raced on the road,but having raced just about everything offroad the last 11 years, I would say definatly balance. Taking most of my experiece from motocross,when a dirtbike rider is getting set up for a corner and try to nail the rut or berm, half the time we don't even need to stick the leg out for stabilty or traction, but we do for good balance and counter balance.