'All manufacturers' will try Ducati spoiler after Court verdict

Now that the MotoGP Court of Appeal has confirmed the Ducati swingarm spoiler is legal, rival manufacturers will have no choice but to develop a similar device of their own.

That's the view of riders from rival teams, many of whom pointed out that it’s in the nature of MotoGP to try something that's being used by a successful opponent.

"For sure Honda are trying to analyse [the device], trying to understand what is the function of it, specifically, and where you can improve with that," said reigning champion Marc Marquez, who lost out on victory to Dovizioso by just 0.023s in Qatar.

"I'm sure that all manufacturers will try [it]… but I think it's not giving a lot of tenths, this spoiler."

"As Marc said, when one bike has a different thing, I think all the manufacturers are trying to do the same, no?" added Suzuki rider Alex Rins, who also played down the significance of the part.

"Sincerely, I finished fourth in Qatar, I did the race with Dovi who had this spoiler. I didn't feel like there was a lot of difference, only on the straight but maybe this is for another reason."

Yamaha, the first team to fit a swingarm device in the form of a spray deflector during wet races in 2018, was the only manufacturer not involved in the Qatar protest.

"What we have is for the rain, to take away the water before it hits the tyre and prevent aquaplaning. But I don't think [the Yamaha device] can do anything in the dry," confirmed Monster Yamaha Maverick Vinales. "Last year we had something, but not like Ducati. Just to refresh the tyre, but it didn't make a lot of difference, honestly."

"In the last years the Ducati is always strong and competitive, so I think that it’s clever to try to understand their way and maybe the spoiler is one [part] of that so why not?" said team-mate Valentino Rossi. "But I don’t know what's happening in the future for us [on the bike]."

Aprilia had already undertaken design work for a swingarm-mounted device, but called a halt when they understood it would not be allowed in dry conditions and could not create downforce.

"I'm one of the riders who thinks that the best thing would be to cancel all of the winglets. Everything would be easier for everybody," said Aprilia's Aleix Espargaro. "But I'm not the one who makes the rules, so we have to adapt to the rules.

"The FIM said this is allowed, so it's clearly an advantage aerodynamically, because you put weight on the rear tyre on the brakes. This is clear. So if it's allowed to do it, I hope that Aprilia engineers start to work as soon as possible to try something similar."

Ducati got the green light on the basis that its device is designed to cool the rear tyre rather than being 'primarily an aerodynamic device', submitting evidence to back up that claim to the Court of Appeal.

The only further appeal available to the four protesting manufacturers would be via the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS). The deadline to decide is five days from Tuesday's verdict.