Sepang MotoGP Shakedown pictures: Fairing by fairing

Yamaha

The final day of the Shakedown saw the most radical version yet of the latest M1 aero take to the track (main picture and below).

A big double-plane front wing, square rear-seat wing and Ducati-style lower fairing vent were among the additions:

KTM

KTM’s zebra camouflage, debuted at Valencia last November, is an obvious attempt to hide the aerodynamic details of its fairing, designed with the aid of Red Bull Advanced Technologies.

But what looked like the latest RC16 design, sometimes seen with the new front fender wing, appeared in plain black.

Honda

Like Yamaha, Honda knows it is playing catch-up to the Europeans in terms of aerodynamics and was testing a range of established aero features - including fork wings, a rear wing and 'stegosaurus' vanes, and stepped ground effect side fairings.

“The aerodynamics are not like last year, where it was almost none,” said Joan Mir. “They started to work on it. They are still small compared to the others, it's true. But we are making some steps.”

“On the aerodynamic side we are, not behind, but with a bit less experience than the other manufacturers who are inventing many things in this moment,” added new Repsol Honda team-mate Luca Marini.

Aprilia

Aprilia grabbed attention by unveiling its ‘batmobile’ style rear bodywork from the opening day of the Shakedown.

With aerodynamics the speciality of technical director Romano Albesiano, the RS-GP has consistently pushed into new areas and, like aero pioneers Ducati, forced its rivals to play catch-up.

While the outside bodywork looks impressive, the Noale-based factory is also known to put considerable effort into internal aerodynamics, or how air flows through the bike.

That includes ‘S-duct’ style technology to reduce the drag of its front wing, but could the new sculpted rear section, which looks similar to the diffuser on an F1 car, also be aimed at drawing air through the bike?

Ducati

Gigi Dall’Igna promised something different from this year’s Ducati fairing and, it seems, that will take the form of a combination of Ducati’s 2023 designs: A ground-effect style fairing that also features vents and air channels.

Ducati stuck with its rear seat vanes this week rather than trying a traditional wing as seen on the KTM, Honda and Yamaha. However, Aprilia, which previously used a rear 'mini-F1' wing, was not seen using it this week...

But did the manufacturers really show all their cards this week, or are they holding some items back?

We'll find out soon with the Official Sepang test running from February 6-8, after which only two days of testing will remain, in Qatar, before the season-opener.