The implementation of the minimum weight in the sum of the bike and rider in the World Superbike Championship had a major victim: the champion of the last two years, Álvaro Bautista. The Aruba.it Ducati rider is the only one who, due to his weight, has to compensate with ballast, which creates even more difficulties than those he already had for being light.
The Spaniard gave an interview to the TodoCircuito.com website in which he explained: ‘The bike is more difficult overall. If before it was hard for me to brake or make it turn… the regulations don’t say “anti-Bautista” law, but I’m the only one who has to add weight. Honestly, if I had weighed 10kg more and had won, this rule wouldn’t exist today. It’s a law that was put in place for this reason. I’m not in favor of this rule, but it’s clear that it affects me the most. I am in favor of equality in the championship, of there being more competition, but it’s not the best way‘.
And Bautista recalled that such a measure was never even considered in MotoGP, insisting that lighter riders are always at a relative disadvantage: ‘In MotoGP, something like this was never proposed. Lighter riders always have more disadvantages than advantages. The Superbike is a bike that weighs 12kg more than a MotoGP bike, and that doesn’t help me as a rider. Thanks to my effort and work I can ride it, but with this they are putting more and more inequalities on me. I don’t think it’s fair. When tomorrow very light and small riders come, who are the standard of these riders, they will already come with a penalty‘.
