The NW200 Ducati team has responded to a delay in introducing the revised twin-cylinder minimum weight limit, until after this weekend's Donington Park round, by stating that it will now be able to race as planned in the fourth round of the 2008 Bennetts British Superbike Championship.
The team, which runs Michael Rutter in the BSB class, had backed a strongly worded statement criticising the rule change issued earlier this week by Airwaves Ducati - and said it would only make a decision about its race day participation after trying a modified 1098 in practice at
Donington.
However, the MCRCB has now announced an amendment to the rule change following communication with Ducati Corse, which said that prior testing at the new minimum weight of 175 kg would be needed for safety reasons.
Therefore, instead of the full 10 kg minimum weight increase, a rise of only 5 kg will be enforced at Donington. Since the average post-race weight of the 1098s this year has been 5.46 kg over the old minimum weight of 165 kg, no ballast will therefore be needed.
However, the full 10 kg increase will still apply in qualifying, when fuel can be used to raise the weight. The minimum weight for four cylinders remains at 165 kg.
"Having spoken to all the senior members of the team including John Hackett, Ken Foley and Michael Rutter, we now believe that the amended weight limit will allow us to participate in Monday's races. This is subject of course to no unforeseen technical problems over the weekend," said NW200 Ducati/JHP Racing team principal Alistair Kennedy.
Rutter currently holds fourth in the BSB standings, while team-mate John Laverty is leading the Cup class championship.
Championship leaders Airwaves Ducati have also officially confirmed that they will race this weekend.
