MotoMatters.com | Kropotkin Thinks

Aerodynamics was a main focus for most of the teams (and coincidentally, also the easiest thing to spot), and almost all the manufacturers rolled out some interesting parts. Aprilia have taken a leading role recently, picking up after Ducati and in some aspects, overtaking them. At Sepang, they rolled out a new front wing, pictured here (my phone photo) on Maverick Viñales' bike.

As you can see, the front wing now is now a triplane and not a biplane, with three wings instead of two. If you compare it with the photo of the standard front wing (below, picture by Cormac Ryan Meenan), you can see that the upper wing has been split in two to create something similar to the original, while an extra wing has been added below, curving up before reaching the fairing.

The lip at the bottom of the air intake remains. This is a feature on a number of bikes, the lip helping to force more air into the airbox.

In the top photo, if you look carefully, you can also see the two lower air guides extending below the brake caliper. Below is a side view, taken by Tom Morsellino.

Mat Oxley, with input from Ali Rowland-Rouse, an F1 aerodynamicist, theorized that these are to create a ground effect on the front wheel, improving grip in corners. This seems reasonable, though I would add that all of these aerodynamic parts are designed to work in combination, so no doubt the altered airflow will also have an effect further back.

Speaking of ground effect fairings, here's Ducati's downwash ducts, the revised 2023 version of the parts they started using in 2022 (photo Tom Morsellino).

And here's the KTM version of these downwash ducts:

There are big differences between the Ducati and KTM versions. The Ducati version has a central vane, in effect separating the duct in two. The exit is angled much more steeply on the Ducati version as well.

The reason the KTM version is angled less steeply may be more down to practicality than aerodynamic performance. I spotted the following on Pol Espargaro's GasGas bike (my phone photo):

The side ducts were clearly touching down, and getting worn away. It will be interesting to see whether KTM continue down this path at the Portimão test, and if so, whether they have solved the problem of ground clearance.