Suspensions

The suspensions of the MotoE

The suspensions of the MotoE - Fork
The suspensions of the MotoE: the Öhlins FKR front fork

The suspensions for the Ego Corsa of the MotoE World Cups are provided by Öhlins through Andreani Group, Öhlins' Italian representative. In addition, Andreani Group guarantees assistance and support on track to the teams involved in the MotoGP electric class through a dedicated workshop that operates permanently in the MotoE paddock.
Regarding to the Öhlins components installed on the Ego Crosa, the rear monoshock is the S46PRC model already used in previous editions, whereas the front fork is the new FKR.

The suspensions of the MotoE - Monoshock absorber
The suspensions of the MotoE: the rear shock absorber of the MotoE

In the first edition of the championship, Dorna had imposed many constraints in this field; the teams were able to change a few elements of the suspension, basically only the oil level, the hardness of the springs and little more. For the second edition of the MotoE, in 2020, more variables had been introduced, in particular the teams could work on the damping effect of the front fork. In this way, the bike came down more slowly in the harshest braking.
Net of the adjustments, the old fork remained an initial compromise, while the level reached by the MotoE demanded a leap in performance. For this reason, from 2021, the Ego Corsa have a new pressurized cartridge, the FKR model. This cartridge has been specially developed for racing use and is currently used in the WSSP supersport world championship, in many national superbike championships and, with minimal modifications, in the WSBK superbike world championship.

The suspensions of the MotoE - FKR fork
The Öhlins FKR front fork

The front fork consists of two stems inside which the cartridges are inserted; one works in compression and one in extension. Compression and rebound cartridges have the same design, but work opposite from each other. To achieve rebound damping rather than compression, the cylinders and pistons are mounted reversed from each other within the cartridge.
The graph below shows the performance curves of the new FKR fork (red curve) compared to the one used the previous year (black curve). As it is visible, the higher the speed with which the fork is compressed, the greater the resistance that is generated; the effect is a better support of the front in the hard braking. Both lines indicate the top calibration that can be set; the FKR cartridge is able to replicate the behavior of the FGRT but while the old one had the limit indicated by the black line, the new fork can work in a much wider area, up to the red line.

The suspensions of the MotoE - curves
The suspensions of the MotoE: comparison between the performance of the FKR (red) and FGRT (black) fork

Beyond the pure mechanical differences, the new FKR fork gives the riders of the MotoE a better feeling to understand the grip limit on the front. The features of the new fork allow more confidence in riding fast corners but, above all, they give the possibility to brake more inside the curve.
One of the major limitations of the solution used in previous years was the limited number of modifications. Although the number of adjustments of the FGRT fork were eighteen, the teams used only five because the others were not very effective. With the FKR fork, according to the Andreani Group technicians, the range of adjustments that can actually be used will be double, giving the teams the possibility of defining a set-up more in line with the riding style of each rider.

Photo credits: www.andreanigroup.com

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