Marc Marquez: MotoGP winglets have made it harder to 'follow, overtake'

Marc Marquez has claimed MotoGP racing was better for the spectacle when he arrived in 2013, as overtaking has now become 'more difficult' due to winglets increasing the level of bike shaking when following another rider. 

The eight-time world champion, who is set to take part in his tenth season in MotoGP - all of which have taken place for Repsol Honda - believes the new style winglets that were introduced by Ducati in 2016, like the holeshot (2018), is lending itself to a more negative rather than positive effect. 

In a bid to improve downforce regarding its aerodynamics, something Ducati and now every team has achieved, winglets have become a standard part of every MotoGP bike. 

After making the step up from Moto2 in 2013, Marquez joined the premier class at a time where prototype bikes were at their peak performance, while continuing to get faster year after year.  

But with new lap records continuously getting beaten over the last couple of years, and manufacturers bringing new parts to their bikes that we’ve never seen before - one example are front and rear ride height devices (otherwise known as the above-mentioned holeshot) - MotoGP is in a situation where safety vs performance is being heavily scrutinised. 

As we’ve seen in Formula 1 for many seasons, following another car and overtaking has been challenging to say the least due to the levels of downforce put on the cars, and although MotoGP is nowhere near that level of difficulty, Marquez has highlighted those exact areas as ones that have taken a hit by the introduction of winglets.

Marquez said: "When I arrived without wings, honestly speaking, for the show it was better. It was easier to overtake, you feel more the slipstream and you feel more if you feel somebody. 

"Now when you follow somebody the bike is shaking in a strange way, but without wings it was more difficult to ride the bike, it was easier to make mistakes, but for overtaking it was also easier. 

"Now it’s easier to ride and more difficult to make mistakes, you need to ride and be smooth, but to follow somebody it’s much more difficult."