better tires in racing makes better braking possible, which begets better brake materials which creates more stopping power to apply closer to the turn, but there was one problem the recently solved... keeping the rider on the damn bike. Hence, tank wings!

tank wings/flares were possibly first created by someone else, but Jorge Lorenzo gets the credit for starting the fashion when he was at Ducati.

He wanted a tank that he could grip more tightly and protuberances above his thighs that prevented him being thrown forward. And the main reason for these new-fangled devices is the extra braking power that’s possible due to the downforce created by MotoGP’s latest aerodynamics.

“The limit for g-force on the brakes is tire grip,” explains Brembo brake technician Andrea Pellegrini.

“The new aerodynamics increase downforce on the front tire during braking, which gives the tire more grip, which means the riders can brake later and harder.”

 It’s the usual racing technical spiral: engine designers create more powerful engines, so tire technicians built tires with more grip, so chassis engineers design frames and swingarms with more rigidity…

https://www.motorsportmagazine.com/opinion/motogp/motogp-s-aerodynamic-advances-wings-are-creating-more-wings

thanks Steve!