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The tech behind MotoGP's controversial 'swinglets'

The furore over Ducati's 'tyre-cooling' winglet at the very beginning of 2019 highlighted a major problem with MotoGP's technical rules. Rival teams are now introducing their own versions, with a variety of approaches

In the wake of Ducati's controversial 'tyre cooler' winglet - or 'swinglet', as it's become affectionately known - being given the thumbs-up by MotoGP technical director Danny Aldridge, the floodgates have cracked open ever-so-slightly. Other manufacturers are creeping in with their own swingarm appendages.

And as Aldridge has been reassured, the important thing to note is that they're definitely not there to create downforce - not at all. There might be an inadvertent by-product of a few Newtons of downforce here and there, but they're actually there to cool tyres, or improve the stiffness of the swingarm. Apparently.

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Author Jake Boxall-Legge

Jake studied engineering at university, as his original ambition was to design racing cars. He was bad at that, and thus decided to write about them instead with an equally limited skillset. The above article is a demonstration of that. In his spare time, Jake enjoys people, places, and things.