Since the ban on external fins, manufacturers have been working on versions with integrated fins. But they are forbidden to miss each other because only one evolution is approved during the season.
Yamaha, Suzuki and Aprilia have already used a special fairing since the start of the year, but the interest of their riders has been limited to say the least. Aerodynamics, which worried technicians so much last year, seems to arouse less and less passion. Even Ducati wins without a special fairing, which is a sign of the times. Only one special “aero” fairing has won a race this year, equipping the Yamaha with Maverick Vinales at Le Mans.
Aprilia had its prototype fairing tested at Alex Espargaro, but this quickly ended the experience. He found that it gave too heavy a feeling at the front. Sam Lowes completed many laps and was happy, but it was difficult to draw any conclusions due to his times.
To Roman Albesian, Aprilia Competition Director, “ It now seems that the fairing is no longer of much interest to anyone. But from a theoretical point of view, this is surely a good point. An advantage. So we have to make it accepted by the pilots, like the wings were last year. I believe in this concept and we will continue to work on it.
“We believe our concept is very good. The wind tunnel results are very good, and when Sam tested it, he always wanted to keep it.
“So we have to work. Of course the priority has been reduced because only one of the two drivers is using it, so we are pushing less, but we have something to test in order to understand the concept better and we will do it.
“Before, you could just design a few fins, some fin profiles, and once you figured out a little bit of the flow on the front of the fairing...it was cheap and easy. Now you need to use a CFD [Computational Fluid Dynamics, software that simulates air flow] and quite complicated calculations.
“Honestly, the fins we had last year were very dangerous. I agree. Because it was so easy to hook up another bike. This could have been resolved in another way. But it's like that… "
“I used the special fairing since Jerez on every track, confirmed Sam Lowes. Maybe we will have something to try, with the same principle, but without reducing the maximum speed. It's maybe 1-1,5 km/h anyway.
“I feel the benefit coming out of the corners, especially the long ones. It's a little heavier to enter the corners, which is what Aleix doesn't like. But at Mugello, it wasn't bad. I think it shows we can use it everywhere. Maybe not at Phillip Island, with the wind. We will see. It could look very different by October anyway. »
Photos © Aprilia
Source: crash.net
