Ducati diduga keras bohong soal fungsi alat tambahan di motor MotoGPnya

Sekarang lagi rame berita protes terhadap alat tambahan yang dipasang Ducati pada motornya. Yang protes adalah Suzuki, Honda, KTM dan Aprilia. Kalau protes ini disetujui konsekuensinya adalah kemenangan Dovizioso akan dianulir. Ducati, diwakili Paolo Ciabatti menganggap alat itu sesuai peraturan dengan alasan sebagai berikut:
Ducati says “political” reasons behind rivals’ Qatar protest

Ducati insists its sole function is to cool the rear wheel. “We are calm because we know that we have followed the technical regulations. There is a circular that was distributed among the teams on March 2, which clearly specified how you could use this type of deflector on the back of the bike. Yamaha already used a very similar deflector last year in Valencia, to direct water away from the wheel.”

“We’ve seen before how some have tried to restrict the aerodynamic technical innovations introduced by Ducati in the championship. And we have already said many times that from our point of view that does not do any good to the championship.”

Ducati mengklaim bahwa alat itu fungsinya cuma untuk mendinginkan ban belakang. Mereka santai karena mereka yakin memenuhi aturan. Sebelumnya sudah ada edaran di 2 Maret bahwa motor boleh pakai deflector di belakang motor. Yamaha juga pakai deflector yang sama di Valencia, untuk membuat air terpisah dari ban.

Disebut bahwa langkah protes yag dilakukan tim lain itu usaha untuk mencegah Ducati melakukan inovasi aerodinamika pada motor, yang ia sebut tidak bagus untuk kompetisi.

Jadi sama Ducati itu disebut deflector, yang fungsinya cuma mendinginkan ban belakang. Namun tim lain membantah:
Why Ducati’s new part has enraged its MotoGP rivals

The main driving force of the complaint was Massimo Rivola, newly appointed as Aprilia’s racing CEO and a man with more than 20 years of experience in the Formula 1 paddock; he worked for Minardi and Toro Rosso before landing at Ferrari.

In the previous version of the regulations it was clear that such a deflector could only be used in wet races, as its main function was to evacuate water from around the tyre in order to guarantee rider safety. The new rules add-on opened the door to its use in dry races, after Ducati warned that in that case such a piece could be used to cool the rear tyre.

For Aprilia, Suzuki, Honda and KTM, the reasons Ducati has given for its new part aren’t just false – they are also full of contradictions. They are sceptical about Ducati’s insistence that the main function of the deflector was for tyre cooling because track temperature didn’t reach 25°C in Qatar so the main challenge was to sufficiently warm the tyres rather than to keep them cool. And given that, just as in F1, minimising excess weight is vital on a MotoGP bike, they’re also convinced that the part has to have a substantial enough performance benefit to be worth the extra weight it adds.

Disebut yang menjadi pendorong utama protes adalah Massimo Rivola, CEO Aprilia yang punya banyak pengalaman di Formula 1.

Di aturan sebelumnya jelas disebutkan bahwa deflector hanya boleh dilakukan di lintasan basah, dengan fungsi utama untuk menghilangkan air di ban untuk membuat rider lebih aman. Contohnya ada pada motor Yamaha:

Namun tiba tiba ada aturan baru yang memungkinkan penggunaannya di situasi kering. Ducati lalu klaim deflector bisa dipakai untuk mendinginkan ban belakang.

Yang protes bilang bahwa penjelasannya nggak masuk akal. Disebut aneh karena suhu di Qatar yang kurang dari 25°C justru menjadikan tantangannya bukan untuk mendinginkan ban tapi malah untuk bisa membuat ban bisa hangat. Dan juga seperti di F1, mereka yakin part yang bikin tambah berat itu pasti ada pengaruhnya di performa.

Davide Brivio dari tim Suzuki menjelaskan:
SUZUKI EXPLAINS DUCATI PROTEST APPEAL

Last year, all the Manufacturers participating in the MotoGP World Championship discussed the matter of aerodynamics and we all agreed on some rules to limit the uncontrolled increase of the costs for research and development in the area of aerodynamics. The decision, which eventually became the new regulation, was that every manufacturer must homologate one set of aerodynamic bodywork before the beginning of the Championship, with only one update allowed during the season. It was stated that the rest of the motorcycle should not have any further aerodynamic aids fitted, with specific referral to the downforce.

A few weeks ago, Ducati presented the Technical Director with an appendage for the rear swingarm and a cover for the front wheel, explaining that their purpose was to cool down the rear tyre. The Technical Director accepted and approved these new add-ons as a cooling system for the tyres and issued new guidelines with regard to the technical regulation (dated March 2nd and then 5th ).

Engineers working for the four manufacturers (Us, Aprilia, Honda, and KTM) who lodged the complaint believe that those appendages have an aerodynamic effect, generating downforce, and are therefore against the principles of the regulation.”

Katanya semua pabrikan di tahun lalu sepakat untuk membatasi pengembangan di bidang aerodinamika. Keputusan ini kemudian jadi regulasi, dimana satu pabrikan cuma bisa punya satu set bodi aerodinamika dan hanya boleh melakukan satu perbaikan saja selama musim. Bagian lain motor nggak boleh ditambahi alat aerodinamika lagi, terutama yang berhubungan dengan downforce.

Beberapa minggu lalu Ducati ketemu direktur teknik soal alat tambahan di swing arm dan ban depan, dan menjelaskan bahwa itu untuk mendinginkan ban. Direktur teknik menerima dan menyetujui bahwa alat tambahan berfungsi sebagai pendingin ban dan kemudian mengeluarkan revisi regulasi.

Teknisi dari 4 tim akhirnya mengajukan keberatan karena diyakini tambahan tersebut mempunyai efek aerodinamika, menghasilkan downforce dan membautnya tidak sesuai dengan regulasi.

Jadi pengecualian pada regulasi dilakukan berdasarkan permintaan dari Ducati.

Danilo Petrucci katanya juga bilang bahwa alat itu bukan pendingin roda. Dijelaskan juga bahwa desain “deflector” Ducati mirip sirip Ferrari F1:
Perang Politis di Track Gurun Qatar . . Alasan protes pabrikan kepada ducati

Kok ya kebetulan sponsornya sama.

Part tersebut sudah muncul di sesi uji coba yang berlangsung di bulan Februari:
Parts Terbaru Di #QatarTest : Ekor Model Baru, Wheel Shroud, ‘Bento Box’ dan Aero Devices

Rasanya sih Ducati bohong.