MotoGP: New guidelines for ‘aerodynamic appendages’ in 2019

It has been announced that starting next year, MotoGP teams will be stuck with the front fairings and ‘aerodynamic appendages’ that are approved at the start of the season.

Since their debut in 2015, ‘aerodynamic wings’ in MotoGP have been much discussed and deliberated – and over the last few months, it’s been suggested that the ‘aerodynamic appendages’ would be completely banned from the MotoGP for next season. But that’s not quite what’s happened.

The Grand Prix Commission has released new guidelines, which mean that teams will be allowed to continue to using the wings complex front fairings seen this year – but will no longer be able to remove or replace parts through the season. Basically, they’re stuck with what gets approved at the start of the season.

Up to now, the regulations said that parts could not be added to the construction, but could be removed or replaced. That meant that at the beginning of the season the teams approved the most complex design they could, allowing them to remove parts and offer different solutions for each track. Clever, right? But from 2019, that’s no longer going to be possible.