De Andrea Ettori / Motoracing
Corrado Tuzii was the first man to study ground effect on a racing motorcycle, and in 2004 he proposed his revolutionary idea to Ducati.
There has been a lot of talk in recent hours about the aerodynamic appendages of the new Ducati (You can find more information here) which led to the official protest of opponents and questions from experts. The principle of ground effect that we have often seen in Formula 1 over the years, seems to have returned to the world championship after more than 30 years with the Borgo Panigale bike.
WHEN ? WHAT ?
Corrado Tuzii, former 500GP rider in the 80s, one of the best national riders of the time, then had one of these revolutionary ideas that could change the technique on a racing motorcycle, as he explains to us.
Tuzii tell us about your idea.
“A motorcycle has a profile which tends to lighten it and make it take off”, explains Tuzii today. “It was necessary to bring a lot of air under the bike and ensure that it was pushed towards a wing profile applied to the bottom of the fairing and designed to have an air acceleration equal to or greater than that which was present above the pilot's head. This would have caused the bike to crash towards the ground, increasing grip”.
Corrado Tuzii designed everything on an old Suzuki RG500 ex-Uncini with a 1978 frame but 1979 components. In summary, the air was taken through two large holes on the fairing and transported by means of two tubes to a diffuser located under the belly of the fairing. The air was then “projected” onto an inverted wing profile fixed in front of the rear wheel, thus creating this “depression” which was to crush the motorcycle to the ground. Despite an almost pioneering technique, Tuzii and his loyal team continued with the project, carrying out everything in their workshop.
How did the first secret test go in Vallelunga?
“Honestly, I felt bad because I didn't feel any significant difference. Theoretically, everything should work, but running with or without the miniskirt made no difference. We continued with other attempts and experiments, but without results. So I decided that to understand something more, I had to do some measurements”.
The difficulties were numerous, notably due to the lack of adequate equipment to carry out a significant development. Tuzii made a homemade Pitot tube and, between doubts, uncertainties and hope, he continued the development of his “creature” until the race at Monza for the Italian championship in June 1981.
Can you tell us about Monza 1981?
“We continued our experiments to get photographed, but I couldn't wait to take it all apart. I wanted to find the right carburetors and tune it for racing. The problem is that my bike was a real laboratory at the time, also because I was riding counter-rotating brakes from Di.Pi of which I was a test rider. Once the skirt was off, I was a second and a half slower and something didn't work. We tried everything at the risk of going crazy. During the last free practice session, my press officer Denny Tedeschi told me to pull up the miniskirt so we had nothing to lose”.
How was the race starting so far back on the starting grid?
“During the warm-up lap, due to the high temperatures and long straights of Monza, all four silencers exploded. On the straight, Virginio Ferrari and Adelio Faccioli overtook me as if I were strolling on a Ciao, but I can assure you that from that moment one of the funniest races of my life took place . When braking or at Curvone I was able to overtake them again without any problems, with the mini-skirt I was turning a second and a half harder than in training and, at that moment, for the first time I I felt the difference. With the high speeds, the bike was literally glued to the asphalt”.
The season seemed to be at a turning point, but the system only worked on very fast tracks, in addition to several technical problems which hampered the performance of Tuzii who still obtained a fourth place at Hockenheim and a podium at Mugello .
NEW VERSION
In 1982, Kawasaki and Cagiva became interested in the system. The new version of the miniskirt has arrived and, in this case, it was delimited by two bands hiding the fin and the diffuser.
How was this season?
“We started very well, although the mini-skirt only worked well on certain tracks, like Donington for example. I could fight with bikes two years younger than mine, which was still the one with the 78 frame and the 79 engine. At Paul Ricard, I was the fastest at Signes with 165,2 km/h and Lucchinelli , reigning world champion, 165,5 km/h. The season, however, ended disastrously also because I had decided to fit the 16″ front tire. I ended up in hospital after a terrible fall”.
The miniskirt project ended when Tuzii was chosen to compete in the 500 World Championship on one of four semi-official Honda RSs assigned to Italy. Obviously, it was not possible to modify the rider's semi-official motorcycle and so everything was put aside, until 2004 when Corrado Tuzii proposed the project to Ducati.
MEETING WITH DUCATI
The studies on this apparently valid idea, although not always supported by results, were so important that there was a meeting with the racing department of Borgo Panigale in 2004.
How did the meeting with the Borgo Panigale technicians come about?
“In today's MotoGP, everyone is dying to win even a tenth, whereas in my time, when we took between two and three seconds from the first, there was no point in insisting. So I proposed my idea to Livio Suppo who booked me an appointment with the engineer Meoni. He seemed very enthusiastic about my proposal at the time, there was talk of a revolutionary fairing that Ducati was going to try and maybe it was mine. Then Ducati signed with Bridgestone and Meoni himself told me that the tests would be devoted to tire development, and that my idea, even if it had not been abandoned, could not yet be taken into consideration immediately. It's a shame because then I didn't know anything anymore, it would be nice if someone took it back anyway”.
What is your idea about what is said about the ground effect of the new Ducati?
“I have boundless admiration for Dall'Igna and the entire Ducati team, and I would like to be helpful to them, but I don't think they are on the right track. I don't think the changes seen at Losail really have ground effect as a focus, otherwise it wouldn't be very effective. I don't think the flow and speed are enough to create an effect. There is no real wing profile to counter the natural force generated by speed, which acts on the center of gravity and tends to lift the bike off the ground. Overall, my idea is a bit like Columbus' egg. It tends to negate that original force, with equal and opposite effect, instead of trying to counter it with alternative forces. Like fins which have many contraindications”.
Read the original article on Corsedimoto.com
