After Ducati during winter tests and Honda in Austin, Aprilia has just tested a swingarm spoiler during private tests last Monday with Aleix Espargaró and Andrea Iannone at the Circuit Of The Americas where the last Grand Prix has just taken place. Price.
Technically, it is very close to that of its Italian counterpart, in particular because it is a triplane, unlike Honda's monoplane.
You can find some a very nice photo in an article by Mat Oxley who stayed after the Grand Prix to attend the private tests of the Noale firm.
Since it cannot be legally defined as a part providing any aerodynamic support, it is called a "tire cooler" at Ducati and a "swinging arm stiffener" at Honda, where Marc Marquez tested this appendage during a single run during FP2.
Marc Márquez : “it was interesting to try this new thing in order to evaluate it while having more information on it. I would say that this spoon serves to stiffen the swingarm (laughs). Have I checked the rear tire temperature? No, but it doesn't seem very different. From what we have seen, this appendage generates aerodynamic downforce when braking, although we need to look at this in more detail. It takes time for everything to be clear.”
At Aprilia, we don't know what it's called (the spoon?), but the ridiculous side of the situation bodes well for future measures to clarify what manufacturers can do in this area.
The ideal would be for all manufacturers to agree, which is far from being the case, Ducati always seeking to innovate while, on the other hand, KTM and Honda are trying to freeze the situation. Dorna nevertheless seeks to find a consensus within a few years.
Danny Aldridge : “This week we hope to give manufacturers an updated proposal changing the wording of the aerodynamic regulations. We will not ban what they already have, but we will clarify things and clear up some gray areas.”
“If the manufacturers agreed, we would literally ban all attached appendages, but they all have to agree. I don’t know about Ducati, they might agree, but it won’t happen before 2021 or 2022.”
In the meantime, we expect to see identical spoilers soon at Suzuki and Yamaha where Valentino Rossi has already requested it urgently, in addition to theappendage already existing on the M1 which has nothing to do with it and only serves to keep the rain away.
Valentino Rossi : “This is something that could help us because it helps cool the tire. This would be useful during the race. I'm lobbying Yamaha to build something like this, but don't ask me when it will happen. We already have such a spoiler, but only for rain. Hopefully I can try something like this soon, definitely this year. We have to be on the alert, because in recent years we started the season well, but then Honda and Ducati did better than us. However, we cannot expect any miracles from this “device”. It's just a little thing. Still, it can bring a little help.”
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