Aprilia ‘F-Duct’ is “perfectly legal”, will it be copied?

Its exact purpose remains secret, but Aprilia Racing CEO Massimo Rivola says there is no doubt that the factory’s rumoured ‘F-Duct’ style aero is “perfectly legal”.

As such, Rivola wouldn’t be surprised if the concept is copied by MotoGP rivals in future; “it's not going to be the first time.”

Intrigue surrounds two small vents above the RS-GP’s front wing, which are connected to exit vents on either side of the rider.

The exits, located under the rider’s elbows when in a tucked position, also feature a rubber surround.

The theory is that the rubber helps the rider seal the vents on the straights, blocking or diverting the air flow to gain some kind of aerodynamic performance.

“I saw many [media], and in particular many photographers, quite happy to watch our bike very closely. I don't know if [others] will copy us, it's not going to be the first time,” Rivola said.

MotoGP has a ban on ‘moving aerodynamic devices’. However, this is defined in terms of active adjustability and deflection under load of the parts themselves.

There were no protests following Marco Bezzecchi’s dominant victory in Sunday’s Thai Grand Prix, and Rivola confirmed: “No, it's perfectly legal, so I'm super relaxed.”

While theories surrounding the purpose of the F-Duct range from a cooling device to a wing-stalling system, Rivola confirmed that aerodynamic performance was among the keys to the RS-GP’s near-perfect Sunday in Thailand.

Aprilia riders filled four of the top five GP places, broken only by KTM’s Pedro Acosta. However, Ducati’s reigning champion Marc Marquez was on course for a podium until late wheel rim damage.

“We pushed quite hard on the aero side,” Rivola said. 

“And at the same time, we think that it's always a [case of] a bit of here and there. Small details make the difference, you can see that the shape of the bike is quite different compared to last year.

“What I liked the most is that, considering how difficult it is to let a new aero package be [understood] by the riders, every time we introduce something on that side, it works.

“It means that our [CFD and wind tunnel] models work well, the way we are working is getting better and better.

“It's something I keep repeating - but every year we become a better factory, and if you have a better factory, then you will have better performance.”

While the Buriram weekend finished on a high, Aprilia was denied a clean sweep of pole position, Sprint and the Grand Prix victory after Bezzecchi crashed from the early lead on Saturday.

The Italian heads to round two in Goiania, Brazil, trailing Acosta by seven points.

Rival manufacturers wishing to introduce their own F-Duct will be limited by MotoGP's single aero update during a racing season. Yamaha's concession status means it is allowed two updates.