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The presentations for the new season that were made over the past few weeks by the Manufacturers all had one thing in common: new colours on old bikes. The curiosity at seeing the first photographs of the - false - 2017 models was all for the graphics, because the shapes were all very well known.
The reason is easy to discover, with the new rules only two different fairings can be approved during the season and no one wanted to unveil how their engineers have interpreted the new regulations now that the (external) spoilers have been banned.
Much has been said about this ban and after the dust has settled, it is hard to find a good reason for this decision other than pure politics.
“In my opinion, this issue of winglets has been emphasised too much - comments the Aprilia Racing Manager, Romano Albesiano - At the end of the day, they provided a benefit, but not such a big one.”
However, in a world where the races are decided by tenths of a second, obviously no one wanted to lose anything. In fact, in the tests, winglets encased in the fairings appeared or elements that channel the air flow in order to generate aerodynamic load, like they came up with in Noale. The impression is that nothing has changed, but rather, designing new systems has led to higher costs.
“I can say that designing the winglets was a relatively simple operation, whereas the new solutions are more complicated - the engineer explains - At Aprilia we are lucky to have the skills to do it, otherwise we would have had to outsource it. At the moment these solutions still do not have much of an impact. However, if the field is left open, with large investments they could begin to.”
It’s the usual problem, if it can be defined as such. The more barriers are raised, the more the engineers manage to find alternatives.
“A completely open regulation would lead to extremely high costs - Albesiano points out - but it is also true that right now in MotoGP there are banned technologies that can be found on factory bikes.”
Just think of ABS or adaptive suspensions, systems that the best super sport bikes on the market have, found in dealerships everywhere. In all actuality, these days, MotoGP bikes seem to be ‘all the same’ and they follow very traditional layouts.
“Even with these limitations, there is plenty of room for innovation - Albesiano reveals - For the moment, our bike is traditional, but we want to introduce some innovative concepts from a technological point of view in the future.”
In which areas? “I’ll keep that to myself” he concludes with a smile.
