Last Friday, the Court of Appeal of the International Motorcycling Federation (FIM) met in its Mies headquarters in Switzerland. Finally, the court have not make a decision and delayed ‘sentence’ up to next Wednesday on the challenge of the result of the 2019 GP Qatar MotoGP, after four complaints were lodged by other teams regarding the use of a supposedly illegal aerodynamic element by Ducati. 

The Desmosedici GP19 of race winner Andrea Dovizioso incorporated a small winglet before the rear tyre that could have improved the aerodynamic performance of the red bullet, something prohibited in article 7 of the regulations.

Final decision still be delayed after yesterday’s meeting, the FMI has guaranteed that a resolution will be reached before the celebration of the Grand Prix of Argentina, which will take place next week, from the 29th to the 31st of March.

This thorny issue, however, could linger on for a bit longer. After the decision of the Court of Appeal, the litigating actors will have a period of five days to appeal before the Court of Arbitration for Sport (TAS) in Lausanne (Switzerland).

At Fridays’s meeting, all the parties would have had a chance to defend their positions and present their evidence. As part of the evidence, Aprilia has prepared a report for the Court of Appeal which includes a computerized analysis that models the air flow through the Porto Panigale machine.

The same dossier was delivered to the Technical Director of MotoGP, Danny Aldridge, after the end of the race. This allegedly demonstrates the illegal aerodynamic function of the appendix.

Ducati defends its innocence

Ducati would have to demonstrate that the winglet does not improve the bike’s aerodynamics but it merely fulfils the aim of cooling the rear tire.

As it is to be expected, the Italian team defends the controversial winglet and its intended use. The Director-General of Ducati, Gigi Dall’Igna, has in fact declared to the MotoGP website, that he is convinced that the complaints against them will be dismissed.

He has also defended that his team always works within the limits set by current regulations.

The maximum representative of the team from Borgo Panigale has been especially annoyed by Repsol-Honda’s position in this matter: “We are surprised by Honda, one of the founders of the competition now challenging the Federation”.

The 4 complainants do not trust Ducati

Honda, Aprilia, KTM and Suzuki are suspicious regarding the work of the Italians. They consider them experts in identifying gaps in the regulations through which they can get an advantage over their opponents. Ducati already introduced its famous wings in 2015, which were later prohibited after protests from the rest of the teams.

Toni Cuquerella, a former Formula 1 engineer and currently working with the Formula E Mahindra team, has aligned himself with the thesis of the complainants. Coquerella said to Motorsport.com: “Evidently, the piece generates downforce”.

Provisional victory

Andrea Dovizioso’s victory at the Losail Circuit remains uncertain until a final decision is reached by the court. The controversial process started as soon as the inaugural race of the MotoGP World Championship began.

During the weekend of the Qatar Grand Prix, Honda, Aprilia, KTM and Suzuki adopted a common position regarding the performance of the Italian team. If these didn’t remove the winglet before the race, they would immediately file a complaint…and so they did.

The complaint was not admitted in the first instance, something already anticipated by the litigants which immediately appealed to the FMI. The commissioner responsible for dealing with the cause, however, declared himself unqualified to perform such a function. After this, the file was passed on to the Court of Appeal of the International Motorcycling Federation.

Images: Ducati, Honda, Red Bull, MotoGP.