BSB: Airwaves Ducati withdraw from Donington Park

The rule change which increases the minimum weight of the twin cylinder Superbike by 10kg to 175kg has in the opinion of GSE Racing been made without any supporting performance related reason or prior consultation with the team, which in their opinion is another clear demonstration of the lack of communication between the race organisers and teams. Team Principal Darrell Healey said: “I am absolutely astounded that the changes have been introduced after only three race meetings and four days before the next event at Donington Park. We, as a team, have spent tens of thousands of pounds testing and developing the 1098R based on what we thought were fixed regulations, but it is now clear that under Article A5 MSVR/MCRCB can clearly change the rules as and when they please! This is not a situation that either the team or I are comfortable with, and whilst little can be done for this year, I would certainly require absolute clarity on a fixed set of technical rules if we were to compete in any future British Superbike Championships.” “The bottom line is that we do not have the most competitive race bike performance wise, and that is clear for everybody to see, but both of our riders have been consistent over the first six races and that is why Shane leads the championship. Similarly, had our competitors achieved consistent race finishes, our lead would most probably be less than 5 points, which begs the question as to whether the organisers would have reached the same conclusion!"

“However, the real joke here is that last October, we, on behalf of Ducati, requested the use of non-production pistons on safety grounds to use in this years BSB Championship, and that request was completely thrown out by ALL the teams racing four cylinder motorcycles. Now, just over six months later, those same teams are demanding rule changes to allow non-standard engine parts to be fitted on safety grounds! I would suggest that their time would be better spent concentrating on producing fast, but reliable race bikes, rather than constantly whingeing to the race organisers to vary the technical rules.”

GSE Racing are currently in discussions with Ducati to ascertain whether it is possible to introduce the extra weight safely to the 1098R, however with WSBK rules requiring only a maximum penalty of 5kg, (subject to the pre-agreed point penalty system) this additional 10kg scenario is completely untested and as such it is unlikely that a safe solution will be found prior to the next meeting at Donington Park this weekend, in which case GSE Racing would have no alternative but to withdraw from the event on safety grounds.