Takaaki Nakagami became the first Honda rider to homologate an in-season fairing update with the debut of an aggressive high downforce package at the British MotoGP.
While much attention was focussed on the new Kalex chassis, LCR riders Alex Rins and Takaaki Nakagami ran through a range of Honda aerodynamic options during Monday’s Jerez MotoGP test.
Jack Miller talks P1 at the start of the final Qatar MotoGP test, the new Ducati fairing, Pol Espargaro's impressive adaptation to Honda and the social media squabble with Jorge Lorenzo.
The cancellation of the Qatar MotoGP season-opener also meant the homologation of each team's 2020 engine design and the first of its two fairings could not take place as planned.
Caution is needed when a new fairing appears during MotoGP testing, for two main reasons. The first is that, because it's just a test, the fairing design does not have to be approved for grand prix use by technical director Danny Aldridge. It could simply be a data-gathering experiment.
During the 2014 season, MotoGP development was broadly grouped into three areas - engine, chassis and electronics. But the appearance of winglets on the front of the Ducati during 2015 pre-season testing kicked off a 'fourth dimension' of performance; aerodynamics.
Yamaha revealed its proposed 2018 in-season fairing update during Monday's official test at Brno. The design is a more radical evolution of the current fairing, including a unique cutaway front mudguard.
Following new downforce fairings from Honda, Yamaha, Suzuki and KTM at the opening Sepang MotoGP test, Ducati unveiled its 2018 prototype on day one in Thailand.
The guidelines by which MotoGP technical director Danny Aldridge decides on the legality of the new generation of downforce fairings will not change in 2018.
"I cannot say too much about the actual designs, but I basically informed them of what would be approved and what would not" - Danny Aldridge, MotoGP Technical Director.