Ducati, Marquez and the revolutionary tail unit: the anti-Aprilia move in MotoGP?

A new tail unit on Marc Marquez’s Ducati has caught attention. A radical innovation—could it be what the Red needs?

Ducati vs Aprilia, the back-and-forth also runs through the aerodynamic battle. Right now between the two Italian brands it’s a particularly heated “duel,” as we’ve mentioned recently. But the Red squad is studying countermeasures to try to curb Aprilia’s current dominance in MotoGP, including on the technical front. A case in point is a new tail section spotted on Marc Marquez’s Ducati during the session that sets the grid for tomorrow’s Q1 and Q2 (see the results here). And it appears to be a particularly innovative solution.

As highlighted by motogp.com during the Practice commentary, this is one of the most radical aerodynamic solutions to appear on a Ducati in recent times, and indeed across MotoGP manufacturers for quite a while, and it hadn’t been seen in the latest tests. We’ve gotten used to, for example, spoilers at the rear of the seat as separate elements, whereas in this case it’s a single integrated piece. It could prove to be a big step forward; we’ll see if it brings the positive effects Ducati is hoping for. Let’s remember, in the meantime, that the current Desmosedici suffers from rear grip issues and excessive tire wear, as Bagnaia pointed out just yesterday.

Recently, for instance, there has been talk of a new swingarm at Ducati, a concept Aprilia has been using for months. It’s not the first time Ducati engineers have felt “compelled” to look to the Veneto-based company for aerodynamic or mechanical solutions. The MotoGP battle now plays out in the fine technical details that can make a big difference. The Ducati–Aprilia duel, let’s recall, has distant roots tied to a single name: Gigi Dall’Igna, who made his name at Aprilia before moving to Ducati, driving the technical growth that led to the successes of recent years.

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