MotoGP | 2019 | Round 1 | Qatar | Mar 8 - 10

I agree on all accounts.

Anytime you deflect moving air, directional force will be applied. I guess the question is how much?

 

The dispute over the rear wing of the GP19 forced Ducati to reveal some secrets, as General Manager Gigi Dall'Igna points out. The FIM Court of Appeal is discussing this matter today. The MotoGP world is looking forward to the FIM headquarters at Mies near Geneva today, where the FIM MotoGP Court of Appeal will meet to discuss whether the rear-wheel wing, with winner Andrea Dovizioso, sixth-placed Danilo Petrucci and retired Jack Miller at the season opener in Qatar, was in accordance with the rules.

No less than four manufacturers doubt this: Aprilia, KTM, Honda and Suzuki have protested against the innovation on the swingarm of the Ducati GP19. They argue that it's all about the aerodynamic effect, while Ducati claim that the wing is for cooling and protecting the rear tyre.

The appeal judges will use the documents submitted by both sides last Tuesday to underline their points of view. Gigi Dall'Igna is annoyed about this because he had to disclose more than he liked, explains the General Manager of Ducati Corse in an interview with his colleague from "Gazzetta dello Sport".

"During the presentation of the defence, we already had to reveal some of our secrets in an area that our competitors had neglected," the Italian complained. "If it had been up to me, I would never have said what this element is for. I was also angry at Petrucci, who had talked about cooling the tyre in the tests," Dall'Igna continued.

It is not yet clear what the verdict will be. Several scenarios are possible: The FIM appeal judges could come to the conclusion that the wing is legal and Dovizioso thus remains the Qatar winner. Or you could declare the wing illegal and deny Dovizioso his victory. It could also be that Ducati can keep the victory, but the wing can no longer be used. That's a scenario that many experts can imagine.

The decision of the Court of Appeal has not yet been announced. One thing is certain: there should be clarity until the next race in Argentina (31 March).
http://m.speedweek.com/motogp/news/140682/Dalle28099Igna-Mussten-unsere-Geheimnisse-preisgeben.html

 

Looks like Petrucci needs to start applying for new jobs pretty soon.

 

To the competitors:

<You never look good trying to make someone else look bad>

 

He will be fine. Dall'Igna is to be commended for a masterful bit of misdirection. When you get called out for illegal aerodynamics, pretend to be mad that part of your team accidentally admitted to something perfectly legal in its stead.

 

Interesting that Yamaha is not part of the protest... could they have something up their sleeve considering their tire woes?

 

I was just thinking about that. Could be as simple as letting everyone else walk in the mud.

 

I thought it was because Yamaha had a similar thing but only used it in the wet.

Sent from my smatrfone

 

I noticed that, but why add to the protest? You've got every other manufacturer in there.
Maybe Yamaha can use that fact as an olive branch down the line; you never know what can transpire down the line.

 

So FIM Court of Appeals released their decision today and says, device is legal and for Aprilia to STFU basically.

"On these grounds, the MotoGP Court of Appeal rules that:

The appeals filed by Team Aprilia, Team Suzuki, Team Honda and Team KTM are admissible.
The provisional race results are confirmed and are declared as final.
The request to declare the Device illegal and ban its use in future races is rejected."


http://www.fim-live.com/en/article/motogp-court-of-appeal-hands-down-decision/

 

Motomatters had some pics up and one was of the front wheel cover. The caption said that every time the swimgarm piece was on, so was this. Makes you wonder if it is a downforce device primarily and cooling is the secondary cause vs the other way around.