The official MotoGP test which took place at the Jerez–Ángel Nieto circuit on the Monday immediately after the Spanish Grand Prix was an opportunity for the teams to try out some new components. Among these, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing tested new, particularly atypical exhaust outlets.
While the practice, with four-stroke engines, is to use exhaust pipes and/or flared or at least cylindrical silencers, the Mattighofen firm surprised everyone by trying exhausts whose outlet does not is reminiscent of the final part of a pressure reducer or, more precisely, the ejection nozzle of a pulse jet engine.
The basic principle is the same: by narrowing the diameter of a tube, we increase the speed of the gas stream (the principle of the finger at the end of a garden hose). We also note that the system does not include valves favoring low-speed torque.
We do not know what exactly KTM is looking for with this experiment carried out jointly by Miguel Oliveira et Brad Binder, because an exhaust is a very complex component whose smallest parameter influences the character and performance of the engine, but it will undoubtedly not be good to be the driver who follows an RC16 thus equipped...
Photo credit: MotoGP.com
