The first two rounds of the 2023 version of the WSBK championship gave Alvaro Bautista a clear advantage on his Ducati, so much so that the competition is starting to growl. On the ropes, she appeals to the referee to rebalance the game, which the category allows since it wants fairness on its starting grid between bikes with very different philosophies. The key is knowing where the balance point is. However, between Yamaha which says that the Ducati is going too fast and Ducati which responds that the new Yamaha is slower than last year's, we are far from a consensus...
The two overseas trips offered by the start of the WSBK season to Australia and Indonesia allowed Ducati and his World Champion Álvaro Bautista to harvest 112 points and five successes out of six at stake. A triumph in particular against Yamaha which however resists with a Toprak Razgatlioglu who opened his annual victory tally during the Superpole Race in Mandalika. But given the general level displayed by the couple Panigale V4R-Bautista, we are more with the Turk and the R1 in Indonesia in the heroic helping hand than in the counter-offensive capable of stopping the red wave drowning out all suspense over the outcome of the debates this season.
A situation which is starting to annoy within the brand with three tuning forks where Paul Denning brought back to the table the story of the regulatory minimum weight which does not take into account that of the pilot. His boss Andrea Dosoli for its part, almost formulated a call for the implementation of performance balancing mechanisms between the manufacturers involved. An approach which is planned in the category for a reason that the boss of the race at Yamaha remember : " each manufacturer follows its own philosophy and has different objectives. There are factories that prefer certain parameters for their production motorcycles, other manufacturers others ».
And in fact, we recall that the Ducati Panigale V4R currently costs nearly 44 000 euros, while the Yamaha R1 is offered at 28 000 euros. In Superbike, this has consequences: “ the different starting points of the bikes make the rules of the Superbike World Championship more difficult than those of MotoGP " explain Dosoli on speedweek. " This allows all builders to pursue their business ideas, but at the same time ensures that the playing field is level ».
Yamaha vs Ducati: “ before creating controversy, I would already try to understand why the performances are not the same as those of 2022«
After this just reminder, Andrea Dosoli explains where he is going with this: “ regulations stipulate that a dominant manufacturer can be slowed down in order to balance performance with other brands. The situations for using these 'brakes' are precisely defined in the technical regulations. Every three rounds, the situation is analyzed and if a clear superiority is established, the rule is applied ».
The next meeting is therefore likely to be lively and in particular on the theme of the observation of superiority which would authorize the triggering of the balancing mechanisms. Because Ducati has another vision of things, and it defends itself all the more since the coat of arms of Borgo Panigale has figures to show. The Ducati Superbike Team Manager, Seraphim Foti, said thus on GP One : " we have improved but at this point, I also see that the others have regressed ". And he explains: “ Alvaro Bautista won the Mandalika race with the same race time as Toprak the previous year. We went like him in 2022 so Toprak went slower and everyone else too ».
So this is not the Ducati who goes too fast, but the others who go slower, and this approach changes the situation in the case where we have to talk about balancing performance... Who does not foresee a race to the bottom. “ In practice, we have taken small steps forward » adds again foti who concludes: “ if I were the competition, before creating controversy, I would already try to do like last year and understand why the performances are not the same as those of 2022 ».
This promises a great reunion at the end of April at Assen : « I believe that the races in Europe will change everything. The first two rounds are obviously important, but we will see the real values on the ground from Assen » said the man Ducati. Before going to the Netherlands, the manufacturers entered in WSBK will meet at March 30 to 31 in Jerez for testing.
