MotoGP: Race control clarifies new aero rules

MotoGP race director Mike Webb has clarified the series’ new rules on aerodynamic fairings, after a number of teams rolled out new fairings at last week’s Qatar test in an attempt to get around last year’s ban on winglets.

Initially brought in under safety grounds, but also partly with costs in mind, Webb says that there’s no one in breach of the new rules with the fairings that have currently broken cover.

“We agreed the regulations with the manufacturers after quite a bit of negotiation went on, and primarily we wanted to primarily from a safety point of view not have large wins sticking out. The way the regulations have been framed, it needs to be a traditional motorcycle fairing with smooth outer surfaces, but we left it open that they can do anything within the outer covering.

“Ducts and vanes inside can be changed throughout the year, and they’re going to have some fun with that, but the outer fairing can only be changed twice a year. That’s primarily so that development is kept under control and costs are kept down a little. We can’t stop them but we can slow them down, and this means they start the season with one fairing and can introduce one more.”

Furthermore, he says that the teams have been working closely over the winter with the MotoGP technical team to ensure that what they’ve been designing falls within the new legislation.

“Written into the regulation is that our technical director Danny Aldridge has the final say on all the designs, and in the months leading up to now he’s been sent drawings of what the teams are going to do and saying yes or no or change that or this.

“So what we’re seeing now, out there in carbon fibre, is the result of Danny’s input and what he will and won’t allow. At the first race, he’ll see those fairings at the technical control and say what’s allowed and what’s not, but he’s already seen the drawings and will know what to expect.”