Gordon Ritchie | November 14, 2018
New Ducati Panigale V4R Spreads Its Wings—In two ways Ducati’s all-new WorldSBK Panigale V4R machine spread its wings at Motorland Aragon in the first post-season winter test.
Aruba.it Racing Ducati rider Chaz Davies and Barni Racing Ducati new signing Michael Ruben Rinaldi took to the track on their full WorldSBK spec machines, winglets and all, on Wednesday morning. There was no 2019 Aruba.it Ducati signing Alvaro Bautista, as he is as yet racing MotoGP, at Valencia in the coming days.
New Ducati Panigale V4 R Spreads Its Wings
The winglets fitted to the new Ducati V4 have caused much consternation in some quarters, but they are not just legal for WorldSBK use, but mandatory for the Ducati, as they are considered to be an integral part of the stock bike. For that reason, they cannot be removed from the race bike’s bodywork.
Ducati’s engineering guru in WorldSBK, Marco Zambenedetti, explained the place this novelty plays inside the WorldSBK paddock.
“The rules explain how we can use winglets. If the winglets are present on the stock bike and homologated if we use exactly the same shape and dimensions of the stock bike, we are obliged to use, because it is a part of the fairing,” he stated shortly before Davies took to the track. “The tolerance is like it is like 2mm, so we can’t ‘play’.”
The exact wording in the 2018 FIM technical rules is below.
“Wings and other aerodynamic aids will only be considered legal if originally fitted to the homologated road specification machine in all of Europe, Japan, and North America. For race use, the wings must follow the dimensions and profiles of the homologated shapes exactly (+-2 mm). The leading edges (including end plates) must have a minimum circumference of 3 mm. All wings must have a rounded end (8 mm radius) or be enclosed/integrated into the fairing. Alternatively, the originally fitted and homologated wings may be used from the street bike without modification except to their fairing mounting. The position of the wings must be +-5 mm, angle of attack +-2°.”
For more WorldSBK news and results, click here