Ducati Reveals Advanced Hammerhead Aero At The Qatar Test

The past weekend saw MotoGP’s Qatar test concluding at the Losail Circuit, and the centre of attraction was obviously Ducati’s new fairing. The wide square buttress-like design, which replaces the winglets of the erstwhile season following new amendments in the rulebook related to winglet use, is certainly amusing to look at. 

If we go down memory lane a bit, Ducati was the one who pioneered the winglet design in MotoGP, and was very much against the new amendments. Going in line with this, its new aero design surely looks the part, even if its application isn’t as revolutionary as the old design’s, when it first came out. For this reason, its future in the 2017 season is yet to be decided.

The two hollow square winglets you see on either side will supposedly mimic the functioning of the winglets. However, the results that it produced didn’t quite seem to favour Ducati on the second day (Saturday) of testing. Notably, the 'hammerhead' fairing was only used on the aforementioned day of testing, and that too by Andrea Dovizioso only. He wrapped up the second day as the thirteenth fastest on the grid. Dovizioso was the fastest one on the first day of testing, which he did without the peculiar fairing.

Commenting on the new fairing, he said: “The impression [with the fairing] is good, and I think our engineers worked very well, because it was very difficult to create downforce with the new rules.”

“I’m really happy with the result. Still, it’s not fixed if we will use [the fairing], but it was nice to feel the effect.”

Conveying his first impressions on the fairing, he said, “[Like] the winglets last year, more downforce and more stability. You are able to accelerate more. But there are positives and negatives.”

Dovizioso’s comments suggest that the team isn’t quite sure if they will use the new fairing in the race; however, nothing is sure until more details are spilt from Ducati. As for Ducati’s new found rider, Jorge Lorenzo, the former MotoGP champion didn’t go with the ‘hammerhead’ fairing on any of the three days of the testing and finished fourth fastest on the last day (Sunday) of testing.

Another reason for the surprise that Ducati’s new fairing gave us was because of the fact that a few other teams have made their improvisations in a much toned down manner. For example, Honda and Suzuki have integrated the aero on the fairing in such a manner that the front does gain some bulk, but it doesn’t glare out. Yamaha’s idea for the new aero is even more subdued in appearance. The new machine uses a secondary skin of aero, just adjacent to the cooling system, neatly integrated into the side fairing.

With the Qatar race set for March 26 as the 2017 season kicks off, we eagerly wait for the day. That’s because in the testing rounds the manufacturers and the riders prefer to hold their cards closer to the chest and the real pace and the effects of the changes to the bikes will only come to light in the real contention scenarios.

 

Quotes by: Motorsports.com