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Aldridge, take cover. Things aren't looking so good.

Poor Danny.  A victim of the inadequacy of the FIM that doesn't seem to be fulfilling it's role. When 4 out of 6 teams point their fingers, you can't hide anymore.

Aldridge, take cover. Things aren't looking so good.

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The protest at Losail was not normal for motorcycling. In fact, in recalling the past, never did it occur that four teams coalesced, requesting that a certain innovation of another team be withdrawn.

If Honda, Suzuki, Aprilia, and KTM agreed to follow a certain line - and we're talking about 66% of the MSMA - the Motorcycle Sports Manufacturers' Association - this should have made the FIM, or at least Dorna - who rightly pays more attention to the economic aspect than the sport itself -  realize that something big had happened.

That is, what there was, actually existed. A common line, followed by four major manufacturers, aimed at slowing down an escalation in aerodynamic research.

Not an intuition, like Colin Chapman's. We're  not talking about wing cars that, at the turn of the 70s and 80s, revolutionized the F1. While acknowledging that Gigi Dall'Igna has an unusual ability to dig into the folds of the regulation, the "spoon" does not revolutionize anything at all.  It actually probably introduces an improvement. Like the "key" that blocks the rear suspension of the Desmosedici and is used as an aid to the launch control. In short, it's not a Copernican revolution!

The fact is that the regulation is badly written and - what's even worse - misinterpreted, as was ldemonstrated by the recent pantomime starring Danny Aldridge, since referring only to downforce when it comes to "aerodynamics” is a wrong assumption made from the start.

In fact, aerodynamics has everything to do with air. The word itself says it: aero-dynamics. Any effect attributable to something that causes air to do what it would not do on its own.
Including: cooling a tire. Or improving the cooling process of an engine by conveying a greater volume of air to the radiators. One of the most important studies carried out by the  F1 along with that of the “air-breathing” engine.

 

Aerodynamics is not just  Cx or Cz!

Moto Guzzi with its bell-shaped fairing 

In the beginning, when speaking of aerodynamics, everyone referred to Moto Guzzi's bell-shaped fairings, which were prohibited at the beginning of the 1950s.

Today, and until recently, the rules relating to aerodynamics were two sheets in the regulation handbook, which defined the percentage of coverage, starting from a side view of the motorcycle. And the most technical part was the percentage of front wheel coverage!

And do you remember the most futuristic fairing from the early 1980s? Kork Ballington's Kawasaki 500? The solution back then was to figure out, as much possible, what was allowed by the regulation.
Initially, the Kawa had a fairing that covered a third of the circumference of the front wheel. Then, the big fender was also cut out... but there were obviously other problems.

Today, of course, the situation is very different, but if the teams have decided that investing so much in aerodynamics is not necessary, we must decide to implement more precise rules.  And, please, let's eliminate the word "downforce", which is absolutely limiting as compared to what can be done with aerodynamics.

The problem, if you will allow, is the lack of engine manufacturing culture on behalf of the commanders of the ship. Or do they do it on purpose? Just to be able to go on the internet and on the pages of newspapers?

It's not nice to think negatively, but we’ve hit the nail on the head many times over.

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