The FIM is the highest regulatory body regarding MotoGP and its regulations. Although it works together with the Manufacturers Association, MSMA, it is the FIM that finally approves the regulations that must be complied with, or modifies them if necessary.
Precisely at that point we find ourselves now, and that is that the FIM has issued a technical directive that questions, citing safety reasons, the seat spoilers. Precisely the seat wings have been, for part of the season, a differentiating element on the Aprilia RS-GP. A motorcycle with which not only Marco Bezzecchi, but also Raúl Fernández, have managed to be at the level or ahead of the Ducati.
As reported by Motorsport.com, the proposal has reached the teams at a time when only Aprilia and Honda have this type of appendages that are placed under the seat, just behind the driver’s leg.
The most specific reason for safety that the FIM alleges is not due to contact with other riders, as happened when the side spoilers were evaluated, but rather to the possibility that in the event of a fall the rider could remain hooked to the motorcycle.
There is no doubt that any decision made in pursuit of the safety of the riders should always be welcomed, although it is also true that this decision by the FIM has generated some suspicion, since two of the bikes with the greatest progress on the grid use them while the rest, at least for the moment, have not done so. Even so, this revision of the regulation will need to have the unanimous support of the MSMA, so it is one thing to study it and another very different thing if they are going to be prohibited by 2026.
Technically the FIM does not propose to ban spoilers, but what it is looking for is the norm
Another question is what may happen with the entry into force of the new regulations that, precisely, seek to limit the aerodynamic escalation that has been experienced in recent years. In any case, it must be added that, as the original information reflects, this is not a direct prohibition of these elements, but of the measures and elements that can protrude from the area that delimits the seat and the rear wheel.
Logically, if the FIM ends up prohibiting protruding elements (with the exception of supports and footpegs), from that margin there would be the possibility of other types of spoilers arriving. And the MotoGP regulations always leave a lot to the imagination, since instead of dictating the guidelines and everything that is not included is expressly prohibited, it gives room to imagine alternative solutions.
That is why the MotoGP of today has nothing to do with those of 6 years ago.
