Before the Dutch Grand Prix delivered its thrilling race with twists and turns galore and a winner full of panache, there were some domestic matters that were dispatched behind the scenes. And not the least since the Grand Prix Commission has taken the decision to ban wings on motorcycles for the coming seasons. Ducati blames the blow.
A precursor in the arrival of these accessories, the Borgo Panigale manufacturer first aroused curiosity before fueling concern. It must be said that the small fins at the start then grew to qualify as fins. Enough to arouse many emotions, Dani Pedrosa even going so far as to speak of knife blades while quite a few pilots reported aerodynamic turbulence when taking the aspirations. This is without mentioning the new constraints for the tires or the budget allocated to the wind tunnel ready to explode.
In short, these fins were starting to annoy, but all the manufacturers ended up adopting them and developing them. An approach that will not survive the end of this year. As soon as the announcement of the next ban on appendages became official, eyes were turned to Ducati, whose reaction was expected. The Italian brand defended its wings by pointing out that they avoided untimely wheelies of the motorcycles and still lined up eight motorcycles on the starting grid. But in return, we were treated to leaden silence.
Well almost, because GPOne extracted a few words from Davide Tardozzi: “ from now on it will be like Formula 1. Reading the regulations will be very careful and every word will be important. Anything that is not formally and clearly prohibited will be authorized. As for the ban on fins, we are still waiting for the reasons to be explained to us ". Ducati has lost a battle but the war, apparently, will continue.
