October 31, 2024

Racing History: The Slippery Tale of Aerodynamics, In the October Issue

Categories:

FeatureRacingMotoGPMotorcycle HistoryMotorcycle Technology

Downforce aero isn’t brand new. In 1978 Suzuki equipped its factory RG500s, ridden by Barry Sheene and Pat Hennen, with fairing strakes, designed to increase load on the front tire for improved front grip and high-speed stability.

Featured in the October Issue of Roadracing World

Enzo Ferrari allegedly once said, “Aerodynamics are for people who can’t build engines.” Physics says Ferrari was wrong, because drag increases with the square of speed, so the faster you go, the more important aerodynamics become. Therefore, no one thought about reducing drag by making the motorcycle and rider more streamlined in early days, because the bikes weren’t fast enough. Only in the 1920s did racers and record-breakers start thinking about how to make their motorcycles slip through the air more easily.

When World War I fighter ace Owen Baldwin established a new motorcycle land-speed record in 1928, his 60-horsepower Zenith-JAP was equipped with small, dished fairings on either side of the front wheel. He copied these from the Sopwith Camel he flew in the war.

Baldwin improved his own aerodynamics by wrapping a car inner tube and sticky tape around his torso, to stop his overalls from flapping around. Another competitor wore women’s stockings for the same reason. Baldwin’s rudimentary aero thinking took the record to 124.55 mph. That was the start of it. Within 10 years the record had been pushed to 173 mph, with the fastest machines wearing full streamlining, like war planes without wings. Rapid engine development during World War II increased the need for reduced drag when racing resumed. So-called dustbin fairings transformed the look of Grand Prix racing in the 1950s but were considered dangerous, especially in side winds, so they were banned. Aerodynamics became a lesser science in motorcycle racing until recently, when Ducati introduced downforce aerodynamics to Moto GP. This is a different science, not decreasing drag for improved straight-line speed but turning drag into grip by pushing the tires into the asphalt…

“The Slippery History of Aerodynamics,” by Mat Oxley

Roadracing World & Motorcycle Technology magazine is available in print and digital formats.

Click here for a sample issue of Roadracing World magazine. (Print Edition, one sample issue per household, U.S. address only.)

PREVIEW October 2024 Issue of Roadracing World

Click to SUBSCRIBE NOW ! Or call (909) 654-4779, 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. Pacific Time, Monday through Friday.

—Read the October 2024 issue of Roadracing World & Motorcycle Technology with your online subscription. Log in HERE

MotoGP : Bagnaia Quickest In Opening Practice At Sepang