Suzuki only team to show homologated fairing
UPDATE: Ducati did not homologate the radical fairing design used during testing.
Thursday at the season-opening Qatar MotoGP marked the cut-off date for teams to homologate a first 2017 fairing, under new rules banning external winglets and restricting fairing development to just one in-season upgrade.
But of the five manufacturers eligible for the Qatar homologation (newcomer KTM is exempt) only Suzuki chose to fit a 2017 fairing during Thursday practice.
As such, it is not yet clear which fairing designs were homologated by the other manufacturers.
All manufacturers already have a (wingless) 2016 fairing available, which most riders look set to use this weekend.
"The cut-off time was 5pm today to homologate a first 2017 fairing, after which only one in-season update is allowed," Technical Director Danny Aldridge told Crash.net.
"I can't say who has or hasn't chosen to homologate a fairing today, but there is nothing to lose by homologating something. Once passed, it is up to the manufacturer to decide if and when they want to use the design on track.
"So just because you might not see a manufacturer use a 2017 fairing this weekend, that does not automatically mean they did not homologate one. They might be waiting for a different type of circuit, or perhaps need more time to build the 2017 fairing in greater numbers.
"The fairings that have been seen in winter testing might also not necessarily be exactly the same as the ones that were homologated."
The rivets allowing the Suzuki winglet sections to be taken off and on can be seen if you zoom in here pic.twitter.com/Qa3XexUjEl-- Peter McLaren (@McLarenMotoGP) March 24, 2017
That means Suzuki can chose to run its 2017 fairing with or without the extra aerodynamic sections.
"I spoke to Suzuki this week and we discussed the removable parts," Aldridge confirmed. "They have declared the parts as removable and supplied me with all of the relevant drawings.
"The rules allow for the removal of certain parts after homologation, but even when parts are removed the fairing must still meet all of the new regulations in terms of no bulges or external wings etc."
Honda's integrated winglets also looked to be removable during winter testing.
FP2 and FP3 will take place in Qatar on Friday.
Peter has been in the paddock for 20 years and has seen Valentino Rossi come and go. He is at the forefront of the Suzuki exit story and Marc Marquez’s injury issues.
