What was under Nicolo Bulega’s Ducati at the Valencia MotoGP test?
An unusual device was fitted under Nicolo Bulega's factory Ducati at the Valencia MotoGP test.
There were plenty of visible new parts and developments rolled out by all five factories at the recent Valencia MotoGP test.
Various new fairings, dramatically camouflaged with zebra stripes in the case of Aprilia, were the most eye-catching.
But among the more curious additions was this sensor, presumably, mounted under the factory Ducati of Nicolo Bulega. It is thought he may also have used it during a private Jerez test.
Exactly what it’s for remains something of a mystery, and teams can run whatever they like in testing - such as the mesh of air flow sensors fitted to the back of an Aprilia at the 2024 Sepang test.
One theory is that the device, which looked to have two metal prongs inside, was placed under Bulega’s bike to measure changes in air speed/pressure and better understand the effect of ride-height device activation.
Like all factories, Ducati went even lower with its ride-height drop in 2025.
As such, the Desmosedici’s latest ride-height system, along with tweaks to the GP25 engine, have been the main areas of speculation for Francesco Bagnaia’s handling issues this season.
Bagnaia, like the other Ducati riders, appeared not to have the under-bike device fitted to his machines at the Valencia MotoGP test.
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