Ducati introduced new aerodynamic 'winglets' mounted on the front fairings for this weekend's German MotoGP at the Sachsenring.
The team placed a set of the new devices on each of Casey Stoner and Nicky Hayden's GP10s in time for Saturday morning's second practice session in an effort to cure the bike's season-long issues of inconsistent front-end behavior.
The winglets work by channeling air over the top of the winglet and then around the edge of the bodywork to continue the flow of air towards the opening of the radiator exhaust slot so that hot air can still be drawn out.
The winglets are mounted at an angle designed to add keep the nose of the GP10 closer to the ground by adding load to the front tire, thus preventing the catastrophic loss of front-end grip which is believed to have been the major cause in four accidents for the Ducati riders this season. Stoner crashed in Qatar and Le Mans, while Hayden had a 132mph accident at Jerez during practice, and then fell out of the race at Mugello.