We expected it and he didn’t disappoint expectations: Marco De Luca has been thinking about reintroducing a carbon frame in MotoGP for a couple of years. Luca Savadori, Aprilia tester, in recent days at Misano Adriatico had the privilege of taking the first GP-RS equipped with a frame in composite materials onto the track, arousing much curiosity in the Silverstone paddock, where the novelty obviously does not is seen.
The team from Noale has decided to push very hard in research in the premier category of the World Championship: Massimo Rivola’s staff is not only a protagonist in the aerodynamic field with new solutions that are punctually validated in one of the two Toyota Motorsport wind tunnels in Cologne and copied from the competition (such as the profiles on the fork legs), but technical director Romano Albesiano believes the time is ripe for a return to a carbon frame.
The only precedent in MotoGP had been that of Ducati: from 2009 to 2011 the Borgo Panigale team had relied on a monocoque frame designed by engineer Filippo Preziosi which also included the engine airbox which had a load-bearing function. A very innovative solution that was rejected by the arrival at Ducati of Valentino Rossi who pushed for the return to an aluminum perimeter frame.
Since then the composite has essentially served to give a “dress” to aerodynamics. Marco De Luca, Head of Vehicle Dept of Aprilia Racing, on the other hand, wanted to take up a concept that had been placed in the drawer: the GP-RS frame has given up on metal construction to switch to composites, without certain exasperations that Ducati had .
Two important aspects: lower weight and greater stiffness. We go from an aluminum perimeter frame characterized by variable thicknesses of the metal, to composite materials with specifically oriented fibers with epoxy resins with different characteristics. This is a new line of research facilitated by the evolution of CFD systems that allow computer simulations: the all-black GP-RS is to all intents and purposes a prototype that Aprilia Racing will also field in the next tests by the test team.
In the Venetian manufacturer’s plans there is no race debut this season: for now it is and remains a parallel project to the development of the RS-GP, but if the results of the next appearances on the track are in line with the simulation data, the carbon frame option could become enticing for the 2024 bike.
It’s clear that Aprilia Racing has opened up a new path: we’ll find out in the coming months if it will become a path that the opponents will also have to analyze and study. We wouldn’t be surprised at all if there is someone else in the paddock who has been tempted by F1 technologies…
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