MOTOGP: Ducati hits out at winglet ban

Ducati team manager Gigi Dall'Igna believes the ban on winglets in MotoGP is an "unsporting" attempt by its rivals to deny it an advantage.

The Italian squad was the first to begin experimenting with aerodynamic appendages on its bikes' front-ends during 2015, and the trend spread to the point where all five manufacturers were running winglets by early in the '16 season. But amid safety concerns, the Grand Prix Commission announced at Assen last month that winglets would be banned next year as manufacturers could not reach consensus over them.

Dall'Igna argued safety was used as a pretext by the likes of Yamaha and Honda to peg Ducati back.

"We have opened a path and they have stopped us," he told Italy's Gazzetta dello Sport. "There was no danger situation and a bike with winglets is decisively safer, since wheelies are a problem with the front wheel losing direction control.

"It makes me sad that something as important as safety has been used as an excuse by the GP Commission to block a technical solution that gave us an advantage. For me it's unsporting behavior."

He added that MotoGP now needed "stable regulations with no changes just because someone has managed to find an advantageous solution." Dall'Igna said it initially appeared the Japanese manufacturers might be willing to compromise with Ducati over wings but the agreement fell apart.

"We were working for a reasonable agreement," he said. "When we met on Friday [at Assen] it looked on the cards, but on the following day they backtracked."

He also criticized the role of factory teams alliance the Motorcycle Sport Manufacturers Association.

"The MSMA is an association destined to make little sense," said Dall'Igna. "It hasn't managed to find a reasonable agreement on any issue for more than one year."

Originally on Autosport.com