Jerez MotoGP test.

[Zaphod]

Short of them being some sort of reinforcement to stop the top of the fairing flapping/distorting at high speed, then no.....I have no idea.

[motor]

Anything to do with the minimum weight management issues, I wonder? They look too small though

[Oscar]

Anyone have any idea what the bolted on looking bits of faring on the front of JL's bike were? they weren't on the bike at its launch and look un-aerodynamic to me.

They're obviously 'fairlets', an anti-wheelie device. As you can easily see, they work at least as well as the Duc 'winglets' did, that front tyre is planted...

Perhaps something as a response to the extremely windy conditions?

[corinthian]

It would be interesting to see what they are bolted to on the inside of the fairing. Weights are a distinct possibility. I doubt that a fairing of that size would have any rigidity issues, even at the slightly increased top speeds, and adding strips like that to the outside would at best absorb some vibration. But if that's the case, I don't want to think about the head-bobbing Pedrosa is in for at some of the longer straights!

[yzr750]

[color=#0000FF] Obviosuly BS got the message that the riders needed changes made to the tires. Maybe there won't be the rash of early lap crashes in races, practices, etc. like they've had over the last couple years. We've had some pretty serious injuries and worse, I feel that those BS tires carry a good part of the blame for those incidents. And to be quite honest, I don't have a problem if the tires actually go off a bit at the end of the race. I think that the tires and tire management are going to become a factor once again. That's part of the racing as far as I'm concerned and I'd rather see that then see guys on their asses because the damn tire won't get warm. Many didn't feel the tires were that big of an issue but obviously the riders felt differently, or they wouldn't have told Capirex to tell BS to get something done.

What's the difference between managing the tyres at the beginning of the race, and managing them at the end? If you are not as good as someone else at doing this, then that's racing, get out there and learn. I didn't see the tyres as being the problem, more like the riders not being able to manage them properly.
When I started racing there was no such thing as a tyre warmer, so tyre management over the first couple of laps was a necessary evil.

[corinthian]

Carlo Pernat makes a very good point about the CRT bikes that hadn't occurred to me:

"On a more negative note: I think qualifying will be a mess with the CRT's on track in the final 5 or 10 minutes. They will be dangerous, and we might see some 'friction' between riders because of it."

Source: http://www.gpone.com/index.php/en/20120 ... ucati.html

[DJH]

Nothing a good punch-on won't resolve.

Casey will show you how.

[Kropotkin]

Nothing a good punch-on won't resolve.

Casey will show you how.

Dennis Noyes commented at Jerez: "If Casey tries punching Yonny Hernandez on track, Hernandez will come mess him up in his garage after practice."

[Gustav O]

Dennis Noyes commented at Jerez: "If Casey tries punching Yonny Hernandez on track, Hernandez will come mess him up in his garage after practice."

Stupid but funny in some way.

[corinthian]

Nothing a good punch-on won't resolve.

Casey will show you how.

Dennis Noyes commented at Jerez: "If Casey tries punching Yonny Hernandez on track, Hernandez will come mess him up in his garage after practice."

This actually reminds me of a question I've been meaning to ask, I've seen at least one team with an iPad and the MotoGP app running during QP, how widespread is its use within the paddock? I always have it running on my phone during practice and QP to see who's stuck in traffic or getting a tow, where they are on the track, where the gaps are, who's on a fast lap and so on. It complements TV coverage really well. But why aren't they using it more to time riders going back out on track? If you can ride a specific out-lap time, you can nail one of the gaps and not have to worry so much about traffic in QP.

[Squidpuppet]

Anyone have any idea what the bolted on looking bits of faring on the front of JL's bike were? they weren't on the bike at its launch and look un-aerodynamic to me.

Vortex generators?

[Kropotkin]

This actually reminds me of a question I've been meaning to ask, I've seen at least one team with an iPad and the MotoGP app running during QP, how widespread is its use within the paddock? I always have it running on my phone during practice and QP to see who's stuck in traffic or getting a tow, where they are on the track, where the gaps are, who's on a fast lap and so on. It complements TV coverage really well. But why aren't they using it more to time riders going back out on track? If you can ride a specific out-lap time, you can nail one of the gaps and not have to worry so much about traffic in QP.

It gets used a lot, but I don't know whether the teams use it or not. Avoiding traffic is fairly easy (shut the gas and wait), and I think the teams use the sector times to see when the track is busy or not. Then again, they are also standing at trackside, and can see. But mainly, they are timing the work they have to fit in the practice session, and are more worried about getting out on the track on time.

[Mattias]

Anyone have any idea what the bolted on looking bits of faring on the front of JL's bike were? they weren't on the bike at its launch and look un-aerodynamic to me.

I suspect that picture is from Saturday, and the things on the fairing are water deflectors to keep the rider's upper body dry(ish).
They extend all the way back to the trailing edge of the top fairing. Compare this pic to the launch pics and you'll see it.

[Nachlauf]

Carlo Pernat makes a very good point about the CRT bikes that hadn't occurred to me:

"On a more negative note: I think qualifying will be a mess with the CRT's on track in the final 5 or 10 minutes. They will be dangerous, and we might see some 'friction' between riders because of it."

Source: http://www.gpone.com/index.php/en/20120 ... ucati.html

Smells like early fishing for excuses. CRTs wont have any important influence on qualifying. Just make sure you're more than 3-4 seconds behind them before you start your fast lap and you'll be fine.

[Oscar]

Vortex generators?

Nope, V.G.s are small vertical (to the airflow) blades.

I suspect that picture is from Saturday, and the things on the fairing are water deflectors to keep the rider's upper body dry(ish).
They extend all the way back to the trailing edge of the top fairing. Compare this pic to the launch pics and you'll see it.

I think, probably yes, or at least some sort of aero aid to push the airflow out wider past the upper torso. I wonder also if they might be some sort of temperature protection for the brake and clutch hydraulic fluid - not that I can imagine that's needed, but I did notice that at P.I. Stoner had little 'tea cosy' muffs on both his master cylinder reservoirs that looked like baby beanies..

[corinthian]

I'm going over my pics from Sunday and Spies has them as well. They're not on Dovi's bike though.
I took at least one pic which shows the mysterious strip from another angle. Take into account that this is a heavily cropped pic, so the quality is crap - it's just to show a different angle.

Here is a larger version so you can see what I'm referring to: http://img694.imageshack.us/img694/9804 ... strip1.jpg
The interesting thing is how far out it stands at the foremost point. I believe that water flowing outwards from the centre would certainly be deflected upwards and downwards, away from the cutout. Perhaps they found that runoff was flowing directly onto rider's the hands or inwards toward the rider's face?

This all reminds of the Ducati winglet discussion. It'll be interesting to see what they turn out to be. I think I might just ask Ramón Forcada on Twitter, he is generally pretty good about answering questions.
EDIT: going by pics on the Yamaha website, there appear to be two versions - a low-profile one (for dry races?) and this high-profile one.

[motomania]

I didn't see the tyres as being the problem, more like the riders not being able to manage them properly.

I see it this way, when the best in the world are all having the same issue with a tire and have commented/complained (sometimes numerous times each) about that same issue, there's an issue.

The tires of today are totally different than before there were tire warmers, obviously. That's like trying to compare todays riders against Ago, KR Sr., etc.; it just doesn't work. The difference in machinery alone, makes comparisons pretty useless.

There's no reason for a front tire that goes through a warm up lap and then a couple of race laps to still not be up to full go. I've not had the chance to ask any of them but I'd bet the reason they pitched a bitch to BS is because they were concerned about safety. I know as one whose duty at the race track is rider/track safety, I was concerned about the tires. They'll get the chatter problems worked out. Hopefully these tires will mean a lot less front end caused getoffs early in sessions and thus there'll be less injuries.

YMMV

[Oscar]

The interesting thing is how far out it stands at the foremost point. I believe that water flowing outwards from the centre would certainly be deflected upwards and downwards, away from the cutout. Perhaps they found that runoff was flowing directly onto rider's the hands or inwards toward the rider's face?

I think that's very likely. The fairing upper will be a significantly high pressure area, and the cut-out would introduce a low pressure break that would trigger a large vortex that would have more than enough energy to pull the water back towards the rider's hands and face, creating a bit of a firehose effect.

This is the classic picture of how strong the vortex effect can be:



Now, reverse the direction of flow (since it's going from the wing high pressure - underside - in this piccy) and imagine what that does for the rider's hand and upper body exposure! If you can get the right part of the vortex working for you, though, it would actually drive the rain around the rider's hands/body.

[corinthian]

Great photo Oscar!

Perhaps to avoid such problems, here's how BSB teams test for wet-weather conditions, skip on to about 3:25:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=urlx3aVt ... NaxASf0rVQ

No vortex problems there!

[sir_nj]

Nothing a good punch-on won't resolve.

Casey will show you how.

Dennis Noyes commented at Jerez: "If Casey tries punching Yonny Hernandez on track, Hernandez will come mess him up in his garage after practice."

that would have to be before Adriana comes back to the garage, otherwise I don't think anyone would have the guts to try

[Oscar]

Perhaps to avoid such problems, here's how BSB teams test for wet-weather conditions, skip on to about 3:25:

I am not even going to think about the hot wax follow-up - don't go there...no dePuniet jokes, please...

[RatsMC]

What's the difference between managing the tyres at the beginning of the race, and managing them at the end? If you are not as good as someone else at doing this, then that's racing, get out there and learn. I didn't see the tyres as being the problem, more like the riders not being able to manage them properly.
When I started racing there was no such thing as a tyre warmer, so tyre management over the first couple of laps was a necessary evil.

It isn't the same thing. The Bridgestones of last year weren't just slippery, they were unpredictable. Riders would crash without knowing what they'd done. No amount of skill can overcome that. Ask Stoner about it.