MOTOGP » Q&A: Valentino Rossi

It now seems apparent that the 08 bike is, in main, the late spec 07 bike with pneumatic valves and more aero efficiency. Personally I think his tyre switch could be entirely related to that fact, why else would he say they needed more power only weeks from the 08 bikes unveiling...they haven''t got the power but HAD to try the now dominant''ish tyres. In the end of year ''try outs'' of all motogp bikes, Kevin Schwantz points out that the Yamaha seemed the least ''held back'' by electronics, as Rossi likes his own control of the bike but these systems can now make up the difference between ''most talented'' and a ''genius'' rider. I for one look forward to seeing any difference between Yamahas Michelin and Bridgestone runners but it''ll be harder work for Rossi now as no data to back him up..Rossi at a slight disadvantage eh ( ?? ) but that''s why he''ll be all the more worth watching. Dean.

rossi used to work alone, may be that's his strength

The Ducati is the biggest bike there, and the fastest, The Yamaha has the smallest fairing and is the slowest,
So now Yamaha have a greater front fairing area to cut the wind and reduce drag (elbow, head and shoulders), top speed will increase.
For a major manufacture yamaha sure get heaps wrong???????

It was screamingly obvious when Hayden got a bigger fairing last year and immediatly went faster in the straights.

What makes you think the M1 has the smallest fairing?
It is aerodynamically optimized for the longest men in the field (1.80 m and 1.79m)
don't you think they ran windtunnel tests?
Look at sideview pictures of Lorenzo on the bike, he disappears behind it
The ducati is narrow and has a higher screen (didn't Casey get a new fairing at Philip Island where he complained about the wind? Casey is also not a very tall guy and fits perfectly on that bike.
It also has a bit to do with the engine, a V4 builds narrower than an inkine four.

The Yamaha increased the size of their fairing midway through last year in a desparate attempt to extract more kph from the bike.

Yes, the '08 fairing seems to be an evolution of that one,
you can see the difference between the Ducati and the Yamaha in the picture on the frontcover of the '07 Motocourse book.

Carefull here people, increasing the size and therefore the cross sectional area of a fairing would slow the bike down. It's the reduction in drag coefficient that is the important issue, as the force required to travel at a particular speed (read that as the power output of the bike) is proportional to the cross sectional area x drag coefficient. So if you can make a smaller fairing with the same coeffiecient, then you go faster, whereas increasing the size requires a lower coefficient to do the same. Like a lot of designs work, it's a trade off.

The most foward point of the fairing acts like a bulbous hull creating a larger hole in the air for the rest of the mass to pass through (to a point) it is the rest of the mass, the head, elbows, feet/foot pegs, knee's etc that add to the drag. Remember its not just frontal aero but diaganal and sideways drag as well as up to 60' lean angle. So there is a sweet spot the manufacture are still learning about, but the smaller the fairing the greater the drag, and pf course we cant leave out the oppersite, on overly large fairing will do the same in a different way.

Something I should have started with is: Car aero is mostly irrelevent here.

Yes aerodynamics are a real black art and up to now somthing bike racing has not really explored (except for the dustbin fairings of the 50's (?) Moto Guzzis.

Isn't it funny how Rossi doesn't even mention Hayden as one of his obvious title threats in the article. LOL

No respect at all IMO. or maybe just being realistic....??