If Ducati impressed with its speed qualities in the first three days of the 2024 MotoGP collective tests in Sepang, the brand that aroused the most curiosity is undoubtedly Aprilia. For some time now the Noale technicians have been trying to wrest the title of most innovative racing department from their Borgo Panigale rivals and also in Malaysia the RS-GPs showed some very interesting innovations.
Above all the new tail equipped with what closely resembles an F1 diffuser. But not only that, because for the first time we also saw a rake for aerodynamic measurements on a premier class motorcycle. A sign of how much the Venetian company has decided to focus decisively on what is now in all respects the new frontier of MotoGP.
The Malaysian tests were also the opportunity for an interesting briefing with the technical manager Romano Albesiano, who took stock of the situation on the development of the 2024 bikes which will be taken to the race not only by the two official riders, Aleix Espargaro and Maverick Vinales, but also by Miguel Oliveira.
“Our program involved getting our riders back into the rhythm, who in fact started with the latest version of the 2023 bike. Once this process was completed, they got on the 2024 RS-GP to begin the comparative tests, which concern not only aerodynamics, but also other components, because with all the things we have introduced in recent years the bike has become a real puzzle. We have about twenty possible combinations and that's a lot for three days of testing”, he said Albesiano regarding the work program planned for Sepang.
“We started with a configuration fairly close to that of the old bike, in order to understand if the new bike was ok from a mechanical point of view. Once we had this confirmation, we had the opportunity to start playing with all these parts” , he added.
Aprilia Racing Team tailpiece
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
The aerodynamic innovations on the RS-GP are quite visible, so it was intriguing that Aprilia was the first to introduce the concept of the rear wing, but that this later became a widespread element on competitor bikes and later to arrive instead for those who thought of it first.
“For various reasons, it's not so easy to make the rear wing work on our bike. We have some ideas, but we're not completely clear why. We tried it again here too, but we have to change the balance of the bike a lot. The bike doesn't seem to accept it, so there's no immediate benefit when we mount it. It's probably something related to the weight distribution of the bike.”
Still speaking about the rear, on the “diffuser” seen in Malaysia, he added: “When you increase the load on the rear, you have to try to compensate for this on the front, but the work we have done serves to ensure that there is more contact between the rear tire and the ground. Carrying a load on the rear isn't easy, however, and if you can do it, it's something that can help you take a definitive step.”
In recent days, as mentioned, the eye-catching rake that was mounted on Oliveira's RS-GP did not go unnoticed. Albesiano explained its function, which is exactly the same as those we see mounted on F1 single-seaters during winter testing.
“We design the motorbike by simulating the flows around the motorbike and the rider with computer programs. These allow you to make predictions, which however need to be confirmed like any other calculation with experiments. This tool allows us to understand if the computer tells the truth, providing a map of the pressures generated on the rear of the bike. Obviously the wind tunnel also allows confirmation of the virtual values, but this is an important test.”
Miguel Oliveira, Trackhouse Racing Team
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Last year there was a fundamental theme which was the rise in temperature and pressure of the front tire, which makes motorbikes complicated to ride, especially when they are on a train. A topic that was at the center of the work done during the winter by the Noale technicians.
“This is one of the key points of aerodynamic development, because we need to design devices that prevent the heat from the brake disc from being transferred to the rim and therefore to the tyre. All manufacturers are working on this aspect to limit overheating of the tyre”.
Looking more at Aprilia, however, a solution must also be found regarding the hot flashes that reach the rider from the engine, which were a problem especially when it was time to tackle the Asian races in the past season.
“We are working on it, but we haven't solved the problem yet. We did a simulation by running three bikes together, but we still need to do a lot of work before the Asian races, otherwise our riders will still be in great difficulty”, he concluded.
Romano Albesiano, Aprilia Racing Team
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
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