The device at the centre of MotoGP's 2020 technical war

MotoGP's six manufacturers have already started to draw their battle lines in the sand for 2020, with the first three-day test ahead of the new season done and dusted. We saw evolutions and revolutions of motorcycles, each team keen to keep their winter progress tightly under wraps. But the 2020 technical war already looks like it has its focus.

At last year's Sepang test, Ducati's works Desmosedicis were spotted running a switch on the bike's triple clamp. This turned out to be how it activated its latest secret - a holeshot device. However, this was not the device's debut. Jack Miller raced with it on the Primac Ducati from the Japanese Grand Prix in 2018, but it went by unnoticed, which left Ducati to steal a march on everybody.

The idea of the holeshot device is simple: the rider turns the switch while sat on the grid before lights out, which mechanically (as electronically controlled suspension is outlawed) lowers the bike's rear suspension. By lowering the bike's centre of gravity, the front wheel stays on the ground as the clutch is dumped and the rider starts accelerating towards the first corner, leading to - in theory - a better launch as less interference from the electronics occurs. The system disengages when the rider jams on the brakes for the first turn.

The holeshot device isn't a new concept, with a similar - but applied in a different way - system a feature of supercross bikes for years, and even featured on the Hondas ridden in the British Superbike Championship in 2006 and '07.

As far as anyone is aware, only Aprilia experimented with it during last season, with it expected that the rest would likely bring their interpretation come the pre-season. Indeed, a switch was spotted on the left-hand side of one of the factory Yamahas of Valentino Rossi and Maverick Vinales on the final day of the Sepang test, while test rider Kohta Nozane was spotted running the device during a practice start at the end of Saturday's running.

It appeared none of the others had introduced theirs, though Suzuki had planned to. Alex Rins expects the GSX-RR will sport one by the time racing gets underway in Qatar.

As MotoGP's technical regulations are so strict nowadays, anything seen to offer even the merest advantage is copied. Ducati opened Pandora's box with aerodynamic winglets in 2015, and appears to have done so with the holeshot device.

But how much of an advantage is it? A look at Ducati's results from 2019 doesn't exactly paint the device as a wild success.

Dovizioso only made up places off the line in 11 of the 19 races, and of those 11 only transformed his start gains into podiums six times

Ducati managed three victories between Andrea Dovizioso and Danilo Petrucci, with Miller bringing the marque's combined podium haul up to 14 across the 19 races.

Of those wins, Qatar was the only one where a Ducati - in this case Dovizioso - made it to Turn 1 first, having started from second. He made up one place from third to second in Austria, on his way to his second win, while Petrucci actually lost a spot from third to fourth at Mugello. It's worth noting that the two races Dovizioso emerged victorious also went down to the final corner, with 0.023s and 0.213s his winning margin over Marc Marquez in those contests.

Analysing Dovizioso specifically, as Ducati's top rider in the standings in 2019 in the runner-up spot, he only made up places off the line in 11 of the 19 races - though Silverstone and Phillip Island should be removed from the equation as the runs to Turn 1 are too short and too fast to use the device (Miller did at Silverstone, but couldn't disengage it for several corners). Of those 11 races, Dovizioso only transformed his start gains into podiums six times.

Meanwhile, Marquez on a Honda without the device finished in the top two in 18/19 races and beat Dovizioso comprehensively in the championship, by 151 points.

If we expand the data to cover Petrucci's third-place finishes in France and Barcelona, he was able to lead briefly having started second at Le Mans, and went from seventh to fourth at Catalunya - which put him in position to capitalise on Jorge Lorenzo wiping out Dovizioso and the two Yamahas on lap two. Prior to that, he didn't have pace for the podium, and was unable to fight for the victory at Le Mans.

Looking at Miller's podium races (excluding Phillip Island), he started fourth in Texas and held fourth off the line. Marquez's crash was the only reason he wound up in the podium fight. At Brno, he dropped a place from second and stayed in third to the chequered flag. At Aragon he did move up to third off the line - where he would finish - but quickly fell back several places and only recovered a podium late on when Vinales encountered tyre troubles. He led from third in Valencia, but Marquez and Fabio Quartararo proved too strong and he eventually finished third.

Alas, no matter how good a start you make, the old adage that you can't win a race at the first corner remains.

But the holeshot device will have its benefits for some, namely Vinales, whose weakest point over the past two years has been his starts. More often than not, the Yamaha rider would display pace throughout the weekend to suggest a victory challenge was imminent, only for a poor launch and the M1's weakness in pack races to demolish his hopes.

His dominant Malaysian Grand Prix last year showed just how devastating he can be when he gets out in front early and can use the Yamaha's superior corner speed. Vinales joked that the lowering of the bike during practice starts at the Sepang test meant he could reach the ground with his feet easier, but this gave him better "engagement" at the launch. Typically a strong qualifier, the addition of the holeshot device will be most welcome for the rider who finished third last year.

However, if the rest are to copy the idea, then surely a grid full of bikes doing the same thing off the line will nullify any advantage anyone will have gained in the first place? If the comments of several riders are to be believed, Ducati is all too aware of this and may have already taken the holeshot device to the next level.

During last year's Sepang race, Rins was following Miller and thinks he spotted the Pramac GP19's rear suspension position changing every time he entered straights.

"At Sepang I was fighting with Miller for a few laps, we were really close and I could see his bike drop ride height on the straights. When he got to the corner, it lifted again," Rins stated.

If this is the case - and it is still just speculation at the moment - Ducati may have found a way to make its bike even quicker in a straight line, and thus harder to catch and pass. To boot, former Ducati crew chief Juan Martinez believes it could also benefit tyre life.

"Tyre conservation," Martinez told Autosport when asked what about the benefits of the system.

"The benefit of dropping the suspension under acceleration is that it eases the load on the rear tyre and therefore reduces wear."

Only when Ducati finally decides to reveal its secret - which isn't very likely to happen anytime soon - will we know if Rins' eyes weren't deceiving him

'Active suspension' isn't a new dalliance for Ducati either. When it first came to MotoGP in 2003, according to Martinez, it tested a "semiautomatic" system which lowered the front suspension under braking in a bid to gain stability. But it never went much further than the development stage, as the system was too heavy.

At the Sepang test, the switch had been moved - on all factory, Pramac and Avintia bikes - more to the left of its original position. This theoretically would make it easier for a rider to engage while on the bike.

Only when Ducati finally decides to reveal its secret - which isn't very likely to happen anytime soon - or an eagle-eyed cameraman or an onboard shot from behind a Desmosedici actively captures the system in action will we know if Rins' eyes weren't deceiving him. And even if they were, this won't stop the rest trying to develop - for lack of a better term - their own 'active holeshot' anyway.

But no matter how successful their attempts are, Ducati - just as it was with the first version of the holeshot device - appears to remain a step ahead.