Aprilia saw banned a semi-automatic clutch system, which was an asset for starts. Maverick Viñales himself confirmed the prohibition of this mechanism, without going into details.
In statements to the press, #12 stated: ‘The issue is that we had a system, but the championship banned it, so we cannot use it and we returned to the standard clutch. Now the starts are difficult again, so that was the difference. Until Australia we were using a different way to start, but it was banned and we can’t use it, so we are using a standard procedure as always and it’s not easy’.
According to the Motorsport.com website, the remaining sources at Aprilia said that the matter is confidential, but they write that the system was banned after a complaint from another manufacturer. Therefore, since the Australian GP, the manufacturer from Noale had to revert to the previous clutch. It was a clutch that required the rider’s intervention, but worked as if it were automatic. It is believed that the protest came from KTM, which despite also having a similar version of the clutch, considers that Aprilia’s clutch relies too much on electronic control. While at first the technical directors authorized the solution for requiring rider intervention, an unidentified track engineer assures Motorsport.com that it is an automatic clutch similar to those used in Formula 1. In addition to complaining about Aprilia’s clutch, KTM also reportedly requested a change to the current regulations in order to homologate its own solution – although they voluntarily removed it starting from the Thai GP.
