WorldSBK technical boss insists weight rule “not an attack on anyone”

WorldSBK’s technical boss Gregorio Lavilla has defended the championship’s combined minimum weight rule after it was repeatedly blamed for Alvaro Bautista’s loss of form in the last two seasons.

The combined rider-bike minimum weight rule affects riders who are below a minimum weight of 80kg, and bike-rider combinations that do not meet the combined minimum weight of 168kg. Every kilogram underneath the minimum limit results in 0.5kg of ballast added to the bike.

The rule was introduced in 2024 after Bautista’s second dominant season in succession, winning 27 races from 36 in 2023, the Spaniard being the lightest rider on the World Superbike grid.

Since then, Bautista won four races in 2024 and none in 2025, and finished third in the standings behind Toprak Razgatlioglu and Nicolo Bulega in both seasons.

This year, Bautista made a specific effort to criticise the rule that was intended to level things between riders of different physical statures.

The Spaniard described the rule as “discrimination” after the Misano round, and repeatedly suggested throughout the year that he was disadvantaged compared to his rivals as a result of the ballast weight he’s forced to run.

WorldSBK Technical Director Gregorio Lavilla has defended the rule, though, saying it is “not an attack on anyone”.

“It's not about equal combined weight for everyone, which is impossible,” Lavilla said of the combined minimum weight rule when speaking to the PecinoGP YouTube channel.

“It's a system that brings the averages closer together. 

“The maximum ballast limit is 10kg, and it's not an attack on anyone. 

“Time passes, it passes for everyone. And, I want to tell you, Bautista will continue to be light even at sixty, so he could get on a bike and win.”

Lavilla added: “Weight may have affected some aspects, but he remains a competitive rider. No one is against him.”