2016 Ducati will keep wings

"Aerodynamics is one of the areas where in motorcycle racing we didn't think too much in previous years" - Gigi Dall'Igna.

Peter McLaren

18 Nov 2015

Ducati Corse general manager Gigi Dall'Igna believes the factory is close to reaching the optimum design and layout for its MotoGP winglets.

Dall'Igna was hired from Aprilia to help turnaround Ducati MotoGP fortunes, with this year's GP15 the first machine designed under his leadership.

One of the most striking features of the "95% new" bike was the addition of winglets, Dall'Igna revisiting a concept last used by Ducati in 2010.

The initial single-plane winglets made their debut during testing for round one in Qatar, before being extended at the Sachsenring. A second set of winglets - similar to those unveiled by Yamaha at Misano in September - then appeared at the front of the bike during practice for October's Japanese MotoGP.

"Aerodynamics, I think, is one of the areas where in motorcycle racing we didn't think too much in previous years," Dall'Igna explained. "So I would like to focus on it and I'm quite happy about the improvement that we did during this year.

"The winglets increase the weight of the front wheel. So for anti-wheelie it is something that can help you. I don't expect to increase the winglets in future. Maybe we can adapt a little bit, some small details we can improve, but not a lot."

Ducati claimed eight podiums this season - five for Andrea Dovizioso and three for Andrea Iannone - but the wait for a first race win since 2010 continues.

"We cannot reach our target for the season, which was to win one race, so we are not so happy," Dall'Igna admitted.

"I can divide the season into three parts: The first part where we were quite competitive and fight all the time for the podium, sometimes the victory. The second part where we lost something in comparison with our competitors. And the final part where we came back with some really good results."

Dovizioso increasingly struggled with braking, while traction was the biggest issue for Iannone. Dall'Igna explained that the top priority for the GP16 - which he confirmed will keep the winglets - is to adapt to the new Michelin tyres and single ECU software.

"We have some ideas to try to solve these [braking and traction] problems, but for sure at the moment we have to manage the two big steps for the new rules. The new tyres and the software," he said. "So at the moment we are focusing on that and after we will come back to the issues of this year."

Iannone finished fifth in the world championship while Dovizioso, who took four of his podiums in the opening five rounds, slipped to seventh.

Ducati will join Honda and Aprilia for a private test session at Jerez next week, just before the start of the winter testing ban.

The new GP16 will then make its debut during the first test of next year, at Sepang in February.

Winglet evolution: MotoGP 2015