I love brilliant but simple solutions. In a world where complexity is often looked upon as being better, there's a reason why certain simple things still just work. A pocket knife, a fishing pole, an '80s Ford F-250, they're all as basic as a hammer, and they make sense. Not everything needs Bluetooth, though I'm sure I'll get comments saying otherwise.
And when racing organizations come out with something that's brilliantly simple, ah, that's just the best. Whereas most teams will spend millions building a better mousetrap, adding complexity for complexity's sake, and therefore potentially introducing new failure points, there are those flourishes of simple brilliance that just make you stop and say, "Wow, that's awesome."
That's what Aprilia's done with its latest MotoGP motorcycle: a brilliantly simple hack that has the entire paddock talking. It also has the entire paddock worried that Marco Bezzecchi may very well be on his way to his first MotoGP championship. Why? Because Aprilia figured out how to skirt the active aero rules and make the rider the actuation system.
OK, so a little primer on MotoGP active aero rules. Well, they're banned. Unlike Formula 1, which is very much embracing active aerodynamics, MotoGP doesn't let teams use the technology, and hasn't for a while now. And I get it, as it basically just creates an arms race within the teams to figure out insane mechanisms that'll only add complexity and potentially vast differences within the field.
If you add active aero in the traditional sense, you lose part of what makes MotoGP great: the rider's ability.
But race teams are race teams, and race engineers are freakin' wizards, so they're always looking for a competitive edge. And that's where Aprilia's new "active" aerodynamics system comes in, as rather than using solenoids and mechanically-driven aero flaps or wings, they use the rider's arms, and some clever carbon fiber, to open and close aero ducts.
So the solution is derived from that there's a lot of drag on the Aprilia when they're going down a straight and tucked due to the bike's want for better cornering aerodynamics. Basically, the engineers previously prioritized cornering downforce over straightline, as they thought they could make up time there. But Ducati, Aprilia's main rival, had the power and the cornering speed to wipe the floor with them. Aprilia, however, didn't want to give up on its cornering prowess, so it built an aero duct system that opens and closes using the rider's elbows when they're tucked.
The above video showcases it better, but the idea is that when the rider is going down a straight, they're tucked on the bike, their elbows as close to the bike's side fairings as possible. But on each side of the Aprilia, there's an aero duct that they can close, which diverts the air downward, thus reducing straightline drag. The clever bit goes, however, when they hit a turn, which opens up those ducts by them moving their bodies, and thereby increases downforce and the ability to maintain a higher speed throughout the apex. Formula 1 fans will recall McLaren's F-Duct design from back in the day, which worked similarly.
Best of all, because it's not technically active aero as defined by the MotoGP rules, it's not illegal. It's just clever and simple carbon molding.
Now, Aprilia was coy about the whole system until right before the first race this weekend. And based on lap times and trap speeds with Bezzecchi behind the bars, the team looks like it may have pulled off one of the greatest coups of all time. We'll have to wait and see what happens during the first race, but damn do I love this simple and brilliant solution.
