MOTOGP: Rossi hates 'ugly' winglets

Valentino Rossi says he is not a fan of the growing trend of "ugly" winglets being fitted to the fairings of MotoGP bikes.

Ducati reintroduced the aero devices last season, and Yamaha followed suit later in the year, before Honda started its own program during pre-season testing.

Rossi sampled the winglets again during Friday's third practice session for the Qatar Grand Prix, but quickly switched back to a Yamaha without them. Teammate Jorge Lorenzo (pictured) has run them throughout the event so far.

In the same session, Ducati introduced a two-stack version of its winglets, as they also filter through to satellite teams.

Rossi said he will try his bike with winglets again in Saturday's fourth practice session, but does not like them in MotoGP.

"I don't like the wings in general, because they are quite ugly," he said. "But especially because, for me, from the bike, I don't feel a difference.

"It's also true that sometimes, a lot of times, especially in the high-speed it creates a lot of turbulence. When you follow the bike with the big wings, your bike can lose stability. But, anyway, I will try also another time, for understanding."

LCR Honda rider Cal Crutchlow expressed his safety concerns over the winglets on Thursday, but Rossi did not share that view.

"I don't know if it makes some difference," he said. "I don't think it's dangerous."

Crutchlow had also expanded on the turbulence that was created when following a bike fitted with winglets. The rider he cited as an example, Dani Pedrosa backed up Crutchlow's version of events when he was following Ducati's Andrea Iannone at Phillip Island last year.

"It is creating turbulence," Pedrosa said. "When you are behind or when he passes you, as well, you lose the front contact and you lose the control.

"The front is like shaking. You do kind of a small 's'."

Originally on Autosport.com