2019 World Superbike Championship Archives

WorldSBK 2019: Ducati Panigle V4R to Lose 250 RPM

The Ducati Panigale V4 R will lose 250 RPM in WorldSBK 2019.
While the Honda CBR1000RR will gain 500 RPM.
Ducati and Kawasaki are also not allowed to bring engine upgrades to their bikes.

It’s bound to happen as per Dorna and FIM’s rules. The Ducati Panigale V4 R is set to lose 250 RPM off its peak from the next round in Assen.

The decision was made after Alvaro Bautista won the first six races and three Superpoles of the season on the Panigale V4 R. Besides docking its peak RPM (to reduce peak horsepower), Ducati will also lose their concession to bring further engine upgrades for the rest of the year. Consequently, Bautista and teammate Chaz Davies, as well as Eugene Laverty will have to compete on a bike with the same specs as it started the season.

A reduction of 250 RPM will not make a difference to Bautista. In fact, his Aruba.it Ducati team had tested a bike with 250 RPM less in Aragon earlier.

On the other hand, the Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10RR will not have its revs cut but they are also not allowed the concession to upgrade their engine, since the gap between Ducati and Kawasaki are only 7 points (below the 9-point threshold).

Other manufacturers are allowed concessions, including BMW and Yamaha (who are racing), as well as Aprilia, Suzuki and MV Agusta (who are not racing).

As for Honda, the CBR1000RR will receive a 500 RPM upgrade. The increase will take effect over two rounds i.e. 250 RPM at Assen and another 250 RPM at Imola, Italy.

Such “revisions” is not new. Kawasaki had their ZX-10RR’s rev limit cut last year after Jonathan Rea’s dominance. The idea is to keep the field competitive for close-in racing.

You can view the FIM ruling here.

The rev limits for different manufacturers are in the table below (Credit: WorldSBK/FIM).

2019 Motul FIM WorldSBK: It’s Six Out of Six for Bautista and Ducati!

Alvaro Bautista and Ducati continued on their dream weekend streak by winning all three races at the Buriram Circuit in Thailand.
That makes it six wins out six races, thus far.
Defending champion Jonathan Rea put up a fight for the win but was bested by Bautista.

Alvaro Bautista rode his Ducati Panigale V4 R to maximum points after six 2019 Motul FIM WorldSBK races, after winning all three at the Buriram Circuit in Thailand.

Race 1

Defending champion Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) overtook Bautista into Turn 1. Bautista made up for the disadvantage on Lap 3 in Turn 3, but Rea cut back inside, and the pair collided. Bautista managed to control his bike, but it allowed Alex Lowes (Pata Yamaha WorldSBK Team) to slip past.

The Spaniard repassed Lowes on Lap 4 and went after Rea. Bautista caught Rea and passed him with 12 laps to go, and made it stick. He romped away from his challenger to finish 8.2 seconds ahead.

Alvaro Bautista (ARUBA.IT Ducati Racing)
Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK)
Alex Lowes (Pata Yamaha WorldSBK Team)
Michael van der Mark (Pata Yamaha WorldSBK Team)
Leon Haslam (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK)

Tissot Superpole Race

Rea took the holeshot this time but was passed by Bautista. The latter ran wide into Turn 3 was re-overtaken by Rea. But the Ducati rider fought back and retook the lead in Turn 4 and started pulling away.

Meanwhile, Alex Lowes started pressuring Rea. However, Rea made a massive effort to lose Lowes and slashed Bautista’s lead down under half-a-second. His determination also netted him the fastest lap.

Unfortunately, the red flag was shown just as the race was starting to heat up. Again, it was Turn 3 which provided the drama. Leon Camier (Moriwaki Althea Honda Racing) and Thitipong Warokon (Kawasaki Thailand Racing Team) collided in the hairpin. Warokon was sent to the medical centre and the hospital afterwards.

Bautista was pronounced the winner, followed by Rea with Lowes just behind.

Alvaro Bautista (ARUBA.IT Ducati Racing)
Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK)
Alex Lowes (Pata Yamaha WorldSBK Team)
Michael van der Mark (Pata Yamaha WorldSBK Team)
Leon Haslam (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK)

Race 2

Bautista didn’t want to hang around and scrap it out this time. So, he took off from the start and led all the way to the finish, leaving Rea to fight it out with Alex Lowes.

Bautista romped home to finish 10 seconds ahead of Rea and Lowes. His accomplishments equaled Neil Hodgson’s record of winning the first six races of the season in 2013.

Lowes’ teammate van der Mark held off Haslam’s intentions for a finishing order identical to Race 1 and Superpole.

Alvaro Bautista (ARUBA.IT Ducati Racing)
Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK)
Alex Lowes (Pata Yamaha WorldSBK Team)
Michael van der Mark (Pata Yamaha WorldSBK Team)
Leon Haslam (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK)

BMW Motorrad Returns to 2019 World Superbike Championship (WorldSBK)

BMW Motorrad is returning to the 2019 World Superbike Championship (WorldSBK).
The manufacturer will enter the 2019 BMW S 1000 RR.
Tom Sykes and Markus Reiterberger are the team’s riders.

BMW Motorrad announces their return to the 2019 World Superbike Championship (WorldSBK).

BMW is the one manufacturer that’s glaringly missing from WorldSBK. Their last effort was with the GoldBet BMW team which was disbanded after 2013. Their riders were Marco Melandri and Leon Haslam.

The new team will be racing the recently-launched 2019 BMW S 1000 RR. The bikes will be developed and prepared by BMW’s factory in Munich together with the Shaun Muir Racing Team.

BMW Motorrad announced 2013 WorldSBK Champion Tom Sykes and European Superstock 1000 Champion Markus Reiterberger as their riders.

The championship should heat up next year with BMW’s re-entry with the new S 1000 RR. The new bike is new from ground up with emphasis on higher power and compactness. While the stock production 2019 S 1000 RR produces “only” 204 bhp compared to the new bike from Ducati, you can bet that the racing S 1000 RR will be up there among the top runners.

There is hope among racing fans that WorldSBK 2019 will see the end of four-time and current champion Jonathan Rea and Kawasaki’s domination of the series. A one-horse race is never a spectacle.

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