GP Mugello: Aprilia surprises everyone and introduces the big F1-style winglet

Aerodynamics is a frontier that MotoGP continues to explore as it tirelessly pursues performance, and this time it is Aprilia that has taken everyone by surprise, introducing a new large rear wing.

Aprilia at the cutting edge

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The Noale manufacturer, that has proved to be the real revelation during this first part of the 2022 season, has not only introduced a new engine specification during the opening practice session of the Italian GP… Test rider Lorenzo Savadori, who is competing at Mugello as a wildcard, has also been riding with a large rear winglet, positioned above the tailpiece in “F1-style”, a new feature that may well be used by Aleix Espargaró and Maverick Viñales in subsequent sessions.

Experimentation that, according to Romano Albesiano and Massimo Rivola, has one precise goal – to generate greater rear load and prevent any wheel lift during the hard braking or through sections such as the fast downhill to the end of the start/finish straight, an increasingly critical point due to the speeds that a MotoGP bike now reaches, in excess of 350 Km/h.

A trick that aims to improve the balance of the bike and that, if it produces the desired results, may also prove useful at other fast tracks.

The MotoGP precedent

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Exploiting the rear of the bike aerodynamically is something that other manufacturers have tried in the past – in 2018 at Jerez for example, Ducati tested a “duck's beak” tailpiece that was subsequently shelved after the riders said it didn’t bring the desired benefits.

The video

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I spy some new aero! @lorysava32 has an interesting winglet on the tail unit of his RS-GP! #MotoGP | #ItalianGP pic.twitter.com/6dHuV5Ak0V

— MotoGP™ (@MotoGP) May 27, 2022

Translated by Heather Watson

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