MotoGP to ban Aprilia's leg wings?

MotoGP

Mat Oxley

November 25, 2025

November 25th 2025

Dorna, MotoGP Race Direction and IRTA say the leg wings fitted to Aprilia's RS-GP are a safety concern, so they could be banned with immediate effect

Aprilia's leg wings were first raced at May's British GP. This is the second iteration, introduced at Assen in June

Mat Oxley

November 25, 2025

MotoGP is moving to ban Aprilia‘s so-called leg wings, due to safety concerns.

The Italian manufacturer introduced this new downforce aerodynamics device at May’s British Grand Prix, where Marco Bezzecchi won his first race aboard the RS-GP. They were soon copied by Honda, which fitted similar wings to its RC213V.

The leg wings use the air flowing down the rider’s back when he’s sat up and braking to increase load and therefore grip at the rear of the motorcycle. Aprilia says that increasing the rear tyre’s braking performance played an important part in its increased competitiveness during 2025.

There is surprise in some quarters that the ban is being proposed now, after Aprilia won three of the last four grands prix, rather than when the wings first appeared.

The proposal to ban the leg wings was recently submitted by the FIM to the MSMA (the manufacturers’ association) with the approval of MotoGP rights-holders Dorna, Race Direction and teams association IRTA. A spokesperson told Motor Sport that the proposal came from them as a group, not from a manufacturer.

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The group says its concerns relate to the proximity of the wings to the rider’s legs, although the wings are designed to break off during incidents. Indeed, they sometimes snap off when riders clip them as they are climbing onto or off the bike in the pitlane.

The MSMA is expected to vote on the proposal in the next few days. Usually, a unanimous vote from all five manufacturers is required to change MotoGP’s technical regulations, but because this amendment is being made due to safety concerns, it doesn’t require a unanimous vote. Obviously, Aprilia wouldn’t vote for the ban.

Although the wings are proposed to be banned with immediate effect, it’s also possible that a compromise might be reached, with the ban delayed until 2027, when MotoGP undergoes a major technical transformation, including the trimming of downforce aero.

In recent years, various other MotoGP technical developments have been branded unsafe by some engineers but remained legal. For example, holeshot devices, which can create dangerous situations at the first corner, because the grid arrives all together, and afterwards, when the devices fail to disengage.