MotoGP teams have received a surprising e-mail from Danny Aldridge, MotoGP Technical Director during the last Japanese GP, in which every team got the news that, from now on, the bike’s fuel tank will be sealed one hour before the race.
According to Italian newsportal GPOne, this decision was taken because during technical inspections it was found that one MotoGP team (the name is kept in secret), used a different fuel tank than the one that was verified by technical staff of MotoGP organizers. Even though the fuel tank still showed the same capacity, the mandatory 22 liters of fuel, it was found that the fuel itself was well below the minimum temperature stated by the rules – 15º C below ambient temperature. This way, that fuel tank could get a bit more fuel than the allowed 22 liters, because cooler fuel takes up less space inside the fuel tank.
This way, that team found a way to get more fuel into the fuel tank, and by doing so they could give to that bike more power without fearing the bike running out of fuel before the end of the race.
At first sight, such a trick would grant that team a very small advantage. But in MotoGP, every tenth of a second gained every lap may add up to two seconds by the end of the race, and this is very important in races where fuel consumption is high.
The new rule says that the fuel tank and fuel will need to be approved by technical staff one hour before the race, and the fuel tank will then be sealed. Danny Aldridge also took into account that teams could lower the fuel tank’s temperature by using external gadgets, so they are also forbidden to use devices that lower the temperature.
Some rumors in Motegi paddock pointed to Ducati being the team that tried to bend the rules, but Ducati’s team manager Davide Tardozzi was quick to deny this version, while at the same time he confirmed that all teams received the said e-mail with the new rules.