Spread your wings Get set GO!!!
Ducati is the trendsetter for the 2016 season. Several teams started to trial winglets on their machines in Qatar test.
The red team presented this winter the new Desmosedici GP16, the first bike to have wings. Yamaha takes the same initiative followed by Honda. You may wonder what is the use of these winglets.
Well, the winglets are mounted to increase the downforce and keep the front wheel on the ground. They also add to braking, increasing the pressure on the front tire when hard braking.
Gigi Dall’Igna, the Ducati manager, announced the use of winglets for entire 2016 season. Iannone and Dovizioso are OK with the wings although they don’t feel any changes.
Rossi says: “The bike without the wings is more beautiful!”. The Yamaha rider also affirms that he remained unimpressed with this improvement. Both Yamaha riders, Lorenzo and Rossi, remain undecided either to use or not to use winglets on their M1 machines.
We don’t know for the moment if the wings are dangerous for the riders. Improvements are always well received in this sport where every tenth of a second matters.
The surprise of the Qatar testing, Suzuki’s Maverick Vinales put his team first in the timesheets, without any aerodynamics development. Meanwhile, Ducati tested their prototype this winter with two sets of winglets. So, it seems that an outstanding “negative pressure” season awaits us.