In the form of a rotating butterfly placed on the triple clamp of Andrea Dovizioso's Ducati, this mysterious button first appeared at the Jerez test in November 2018, before being discovered by the press during the Sepang tests last February.
Indiscretion or deduction, the fact remains that journalists were quick to suspect a “Holeshot” device, used for a long time in motocross.
What is a “Holeshot” device? 'Holeshot' is the name given in English to the race for the best possible start. It's about being the driver in the lead going into the first corner. The 'Holeshot-Device' is a device that makes this possible. In motocross, this happens as follows: a latch is installed on the fork, which allows it to be locked in the lower position. The motorcycle is thus lowered from the front before departure, thus attempting to mitigate the transfer of load during acceleration. As soon as the fork receives more energy for the first time in the race, i.e. when braking for the first corner, the locking releases and the motorcycle returns to its usual balance.
We therefore thought of such a system before realizing that the cable which came from the butterfly button was heading towards the rear of the motorcycle…
Never mind, load transfer could also be minimized by blocking the rear shock absorber!
Having not personally seen the system and having no information about it, we therefore logically had no idea as to the veracity of this hypothesis, until we broadcast the video of the 3rd day of testing at Sepang taken by a Malaysian fan.
We therefore extracted the passage concerned and made a small edit…
There, clearly, we see something strange when Andrea Dovizioso carries out a test start from the Pit Lane.
The load transfer seems to be immediately countered and the rear suspension of the GP 19 actually seems blocked. But, after all, we cannot exclude that the Italian driver missed his start, even if this cannot be heard by the sound of his engine.
And even stranger is the reaction of his bike when he releases the gas and brakes: the rear suspension seems to unlock and relax so much that the rear wheel takes off in a movement abrupt enough to lift its rider.
Obviously, this is not proof, but the general impression really matches the hypothesis put forward…
Once again, Luigi Dall'Igna impresses us!
