Ducati provokes the ire of its peers in MotoGP because the firm has embarked on technical innovations authorized by the regulations, but which had never been taken into account until then. They should never have worked according to early experts, now largely contradicted by the facts. We must now catch up, but rather than recognizing this, some say they are embarking on it reluctantly, because these new developments will never be useful for mass production. Among these, KTM, in complete contradiction with its RC16 which has never had the slightest connection with its range in dealerships. And then there is the case of Honda…
The opponents of Ducati would have us believe that, to be legitimate, a technical innovation in MotoGP should have a destiny to be found on a production motorcycle. A philosophy of the prototype class which deserves attention, while some, who believe in these words, are the first to be in total contradiction with them in their own commitment to competition.
This is the blatant case of KTM. Sebastian Risse, the technical man in Mattighofen is strongly against the trim correction system and campaigned for its ban after having for a time mocked the arrival of the ailerons, like others. The argument, repeated endlessly, is the following: we will never see this mechanical device on a production machine. And he is right since electronics, banned in MotoGP, can do the job more easily and at lower cost. But when the same person champions a technology that should trickle down to the manufacturer's range, he is surprising.
There is nothing related to MotoGP in the KTM and Honda ranges, unlike Ducati
It is indeed necessary to remember that KTM does not offer Superbikes to its customers. The top of the range from the Austrian brand is the 1290 Super Duke, a 180 hp roadster with a V2 engine. The KTM RC16 differs greatly from the models offered by KTM in the series, particularly in terms of the engine. What does it say Sebastian Risse ? “ At the moment, no one uses a seamless gearbox on a production motorcycle. But what we learned here could still be transferred. We were able to improve some details significantly ».
When the man from Mattighofen talks about the seamless box, we of course think of Honda which introduced it in MotoGP and which obviously does not offer it on the motorcycles in its range. So why teach Ducati a lesson like this? ? “ It's true that we have never installed the seamless transmission on a production motorcycle before. ", commented the Honda engineer Takeo Yokoyama on motorsport total. " But we were able to learn a lot in MotoGP. We worked on the electronic settings which allowed us to improve » he adds immediately.
Certainly, but, by the way, there have been big differences between Superbike and MotoGP in terms of configuration for 20 years at Honda. The sporty flagship of the world's leading manufacturer's range, the CBR1000RR-R Fireblade, presents an engine architecture different from that of the RC213V. While Honda competes in MotoGP with a V4 engine, the Superbike uses an inline four-cylinder engine. Quite the opposite of Ducati where the customer can really find MotoGP DNA in a Panigale V4.
