MotoGP Blog

Nicky Hayden was running a revised fairing for the Honda in Malaysia, one which provides him with a larger ‘bubble’ in which to hide when riding at speed. Complaining of buffeting from the minimalist standard fairing on the 800cc Honda from the early rounds, the revised version was ready for him at Phillip Island, but the decision was taken not to run it in the race due to the gusty nature of the wind at the Australian track.

Above is Hayden at Catalunya earlier this season. The fairing has a minimal frontal area and the spars either side of the screen are narrow. Also the cutaways in front of the handlebars are deep and clearly reveal all of the Haydens hands on the bars. The bike looks small for Hayden as a result and this mismatch has led to accusations that the bike was designed with Pedrosa in mind and not Hayden.

This shot is of Hayden at the recent Malaysian race, with the new fairing. The screen spars are noticeably wider and the cutaways less deep, affording Hayden some protection from the wind which is now directed up and over his shoulders when tucked in, rather than directly into them.

It appears Honda have been experimenting with this minimalist fairing all season and have tried to make the bike as small and narrow as possible to make it’s path through the air easier - undoubtedly this is the engineers solution to maximising top speed and maneouverability around corners. By making these changes for Hayden, they would seem to have realised that the rider and the rider’s comfort is a key factor in making a bike go fast over the duration of a race. It is not simply an engineering problem to be solved, but a human one as well.