2023-06-22 10:45:47
In the Superbike World Championship there are three instruments to bring the very different motorcycles from the series to almost the same technical level: These are the permitted maximum speed and concessions for changes to the engine and chassis if a manufacturer falls behind on the best becomes too big.
To define this, there are so-called concession points that each manufacturer receives for placing in the top 5 in dry main races: 5-4-3-2-1. If the gap to the most successful manufacturer is 20 points or more following three, six or nine events, there are concessions.
Yamaha is in a bind. On the one hand, the Japanese manufacturer is too successful to be allowed to upgrade technically. On the other hand, figurehead Toprak Razgatlioglu has no chance this year: Ducati star Alvaro Bautista has won 14 of 15 races so far.
And Toprak is the only Yamaha rider to have won at all since 2021 – 31 times in total.
“It is very difficult for the FIM and Dorna to find a way for all manufacturers to be successful,” says Yamaha racing director Andrea Dosoli. “The current rules try to reduce the gap to the best. It is evident that the current winning package is a combination of a fantastic rider and his machine. Bautista understood better than anyone how to get the most out of his bike and is the benchmark.”
“The investment in our drivers and teams is paying off today,” said the Italian in an exclusive interview with SPEEDWEEK.com. “Of course that’s positive. In recent years, however, we have never been in a situation where we were allowed to improve engine performance because we were not allowed to use concession parts. In a way, success limits us in terms of development opportunities. We have potential that we need to unleash. We have ideas on how to close the gap over the next two years and are talking to FIM and Dorna regarding it. It is very likely that the technical rules will have to be reconsidered because we were the only ones who were never allowed to increase the engine power. With our current drivers and their results, I doubt that we will ever get into this situation with the current regulations.”
“We brought this topic to the table,” says Dosoli. “We should also be allowed to bring improvements. We are having a fair discussion with the FIM and Dorna whose aim is to have a balanced championship. To achieve that, we have to do everything we can to give everyone a chance to win.”
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