The Ducati BSB teams will take part in this weekend's
Donington Park round after the introduction of the new twin-cylinder minimum weight was delayed.
The delay has been made on the grounds of safety after Ducati Corse agreed with the position of its BSB teams - Airwaves and NW200 - that it would be unsafe to race with ballast without having tested it first.
So far this year, both twin-cylinders and four-cylinders have been racing with a 165 kg minimum weight. But after a recent performance review, the MCRCB declared "the twin cylinder machines have enjoyed a competitive advantage" and increased the minimum weight to 175 kg for twin cylinders.
However, it seems that the 1098s were not running at the 165 kg limit to begin with.
When asked to explain the 10 kg increase, Stuart Higgs, series and race director for the British Superbike Championship, told
Crash.net:
"We took the practical results that we know so far from post race checks," he replied. "For example at
Thruxton, Shane [Byrne's] bike was weighed post-race and weighed 176 kilos and Camier's weighed 171.8 kilos so it is reasonable to look at something slightly higher than that.
"That is the principle point I would want to put across. Ten kilos is the figure being banded around but the reality is that the average weight of BSB full-spec Ducatis that have been weighed during the year comes out at 170.46 kilos - so the practical additional added weight is probably 50% less than suggested."
Those figures raise further questions - putting the argument about whether it is 'ethical' to add a weight penalty to one side, and the safety issues linked to the timing of the rule change - why are Airwaves/NW200 complaining if the 'real' weight increase is so small? But on the other hand, if the twin cylinders have - in the words of the MCRCB - "enjoyed a competitive advantage" will such a small increase on the current racing weight make any noticeable difference?
