2016, fins arrive in force: why and until when?

A few years later, we can cite as an example the monstrous New Zealander Rodger Freeth's TZ750 Yamaha Viko, then Barry Sheene's Suzuki R 500 in 1979, the ELF2 in 1984, the Yamaha YRT500 of Max Biaggi and Carlos Checa in 1999 and the Ducati of Casey Stoner in 2009/2010.

And it is precisely Ducati who persevered on this path, constantly developing these aerodynamic appendages to culminate in the monstrosities that are starting to spring up everywhere this season.

After a first experiment in 1999, without great results, Yamaha tested fins again at private trials in Aragon last year; fins on the fork crown, but also fins on the sides, like on the Ducati, of which there are unfortunately no photos available.

Unconvinced, Jorge Lorenzo and Valentino Rossi then tried them and occasionally adopted them in the race, before the Italian driver gave up on them while the Mallorcan now uses the larger elements previously tested by Nakasuga at Sepang.

At Honda, undoubtedly challenged by the efforts of the competition, we manufactured very small elements which we positioned in a fairly inclined manner. The riders are pretty much saying the same thing as the Yamaha riders last year, which is, in short, “yes, maybe, but not sure”.

At Losail, Ducati abandoned its side winglets, ending up with roughly the same configuration as Jorge Lorenzo, unless it was the other way around.

What are these fins for?

Their inverted airplane wing profile providessupport on the front wheel. That is useful when entering a turn, when releasing the brakes, but also to acceleration, riding a allowing the anti-wheelie to trigger a little later.

Obviously, we get nothing for nothing, and the installation of fins causes additional drag which is paid for in top speed, but which the Ducatis have no trouble compensating with the power of their engines. Hervé Poncharal talks about 2 to 3 km/h.

Last week, we even saw the first winglets arrive in Moto3, on the official Mahindras of the Aspar team.

The, the elements immediately appear more sophisticated, combining both a vertical support function and better guidance of lateral flows, as Aprilia had done at the bottom of the fairings of its 125cc. The result is appendages worked in two perpendicular planes, from which MotoGP could soon draw inspiration.

However, be careful with real-false good ideas. As Patrick Haas, the head of the Geneva wind tunnel, told us: « today, we can no longer do aerodynamics with intuition and experience. What might appear logical a priori generally does not work, and vice versa. We work above all with computers and programs, and we then validate the results in the wind tunnel, on models and then in full size. »

But even though many engineers are working on these elements, they are already under close surveillance by the authorities. Their sizes are indeed beginning to raise concerns about what would happen if they come into contact with another rider's leg, as is sometimes the case with the front tire of another motorcycle. Made of carbon, so razor sharp as soon as they break, and securely attached to withstand speeds of 350 km/h, these elements could indeed transform into sharp blades in the event of violent contact.

Spoilers remain permitted as long as they are an integral part of the fairing or saddle, do not exceed the height of the handlebars, the width of the motorcycle and the verticals of the front and rear wheels, and are not movable. .

Their case has already been examined at the Grand Prix Commission on November 7 in Valencia, to achieve a minimum radius of 2,5 mm for each element.

This is a first measure but However, this does not reassure the authorities who were afraid of seeing the wings disembark in Moto3, in teams supposedly less competent than the factories running in MotoGP.

They nevertheless authorized the testing of the Mahindra, since, in fact, each major modification must receive the approval of the Technical Director before it can be put on the track. We know that other, even more original experiments were temporarily refused.

No one knows what the Grand Prix Commission will do in the weeks and months to come; ban these appendages, impose more rounded shapes or less sharp materials on them?

In any case, it would be welcome to resolve the problem before a tragedy occurs…

Photos: DR