| Gordon Ritchie | WorldSBK
Contrary to some speculation about Yamaha’s latest bodywork tweaks to the 2021 R1 in WorldSBK race trim, changes which were showcased at the recent Misano tests, there is no new ‘aero package’ for the five Yamaha riders that will compete full-time in 2021.
WorldSBK racing is a form of silhouette class, in that the machines have to look the same as the road bikes they are based on, albeit with some leeway to make the bikes a little bit more race-ready.
The requirement in Superbike is for permitted tweaks rather than an ideas of prototype ‘aero’ changes, which are of course a major growth area of machine development inside the MotoGP paddock.
Andrea Dosoli, Yamaha Europe’s WorldSBK racing manager explained what was present on the factory machines at the Misano test - and why bodywork updates do not equate to a new aero package.
“No, this is just made some modifications to the top cowling, around the intake area, to try to see if it improved the intake and to ‘cover’ the riders, the taller riders like Toprak,” Dosoli told bikesportnews.com. “Maybe he will have a dedicated screen, but within the technical rules there are not so many possibilities.”
Yamaha’s official WorldSBK team is a joint effort between the Italian based technical and developmental operation headed up by Dosoli and Paul Denning’s Cresent Racing team set-up in the UK. Denning and some other regular staff were not at the Misano test due to Covid travel restrictions.
Some other Crescent crew still made it, having headed out early to Italy to complete their mandatory isolation on arrival. Two regular Italian based techs were had to suddenly self-isolate at home,requiring late replacements from the local staff at Misano, so it was a complicated test for the Yamaha effort.
Denning explained the limits of what can be done to WorldSBK bodywork compared to the original road bike in a little more detail, based on the new FIM rulebook. “The key point are that that the fairing and bodywork must conform in principle to the homologated shape, headlights must be included, and there is a tolerance of 15 mm,” said Denning. “We have not got anything new with ‘aero’.
“There is a slight redesign looking for slightly better rider protection. The front upper section, i.e. the top fairing, above the area of front wheel cavity can have its frontal area increased in width by up to 30mm, and obviously the windscreen can be a different size. There is not a big change and it is within the same scope as the current model, just slightly modified for racing.”
As well as the need to try out the latest bodywork and other technical advances, the Misano test was to give two GRT Yamaha riders their first chance to ride at Misano - Garrett Gerloff and Kohta Nozane.
Some of Yamaha’s riders had also not ridden a full-on Superbike properly for around four months, with Misano’s two days allowing them to warm-up before the next big ‘all-out’ tests at Barcelona at the end of March.
The Link LonkMarch 18, 2021 at 05:13PM
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Yamaha WorldSBK aero changes are 'modifications' not full package - BSN
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