Due to the new MotoGP regulations (which are changing everything), the premier class prototypes will be significantly slowed down starting from the 2027 season. The reduction in displacement from 1,000 cm³ to 850 cm³ should reduce power by 40-50 horsepower. Height devices will also be a thing of the past. To prevent the Superbike World Championship from becoming the fastest motorcycle category from 2027, there will also be some limitations in the series championship.
At first glance, a change to the displacement formula seems obvious, but it is highly unlikely. The 1,000cc superbike format has established itself in recent decades. The organizers of the world series derivatives championship will therefore have to be creative.
Already this year there is a sign of future limitations. The 2024 regulation requires fuel flow to be measured by all manufacturers and reported to the FIM. The managers of World Superbike, FIM and Dorna analyze these values and establish the maximum fuel flow for the next season.
Because Ducati will be the most affected
This means that the performance of superbikes can be reduced without much effort. The gap with MotoGP remains and speeds are reduced to ensure safety. However, the Ducati camp is not very convinced about the fuel flow limitation. And there are reasons.
“It’s a big problem,” clarified Ducati technical director Marco Zambenedetti in an exclusive interview with Motorsport.com. “But at the moment we don’t know how big the problem will be. With this flow meter, the engine performance can be directly limited.”
It is clear that range limitation will be a problem for more powerful engines. High performance goes hand in hand with high consumption. Together with Honda and BMW, Ducati probably has the most powerful engine in the Superbike World Championship.
Since the Panigale V4R’s V4 engine achieves its power thanks to a very high-revving concept, Ducati is likely to be the manufacturer that will take the hardest hit. In series production, the R model of the Panigale reaches a speed of 16,500 rpm. Some competitive superbikes are very far from this value.
“We are the most disadvantaged because our engine reaches the highest revs”, confirms Marco Zambenedetti, who adds: “High revs require a lot of fuel”. The Ducati engineer doesn’t think it’s right that the Superbike World Championship is slowed down by the flow of fuel.
“They targeted an area where we had an advantage in the past and we can no longer capitalize on it,” explains Marco Zambenedetti. Ducati expects the fuel flow rule to become a problem and is working on solutions in the background.
Alvaro Bautista, Aruba.It Racing – Ducati
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
What solutions are you looking for to minimize damage?
“We are already examining the issue, but we cannot estimate how great the restrictions will be. The limits have yet to be defined,” explains Marco Zambenedetti, hoping to have information soon.
“We will inform ourselves about a large area in Misano. We hope to know a concrete value before the summer break, so we can evaluate how big the impact will be,” said the Italian Ducati engineer, predicting: ‘Everyone will be affected, but at the moment it is not clear how much.
But what are the solutions that Ducati is studying to limit the effects? “We need to develop a leaner engine, but this leads to temperature problems. There are limits”, reflects Marco Zambenedetti.
“The goal is to limit the performance of the engines. This goal will certainly be achieved, because with these engines the options are limited. You can only reduce the mixture up to a certain point before reaching too high engine temperatures. So you have to reduce the power,” explains the problem.
Nicolo Bulega, Aruba.It Racing – Ducati
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Which solution would be more obvious according to Ducati
Marco Zambenedetti does not believe that limiting speeds through fuel flow is the most elegant solution. “There are simpler ways to reduce the maximum speed,” the Ducati technical coordinator is convinced.
What ideas does he have in mind? “Everyone uses fairings that use rather large tolerances compared to the series. Why don’t we say that everyone must use the standard fairing? Then each manufacturer would lose three to five km/h of top speed”, is convinced Marco Zambenedetti.
“It would be in line with the philosophy of the Superbike World Championship and it would be much simpler,” he says in support of this idea. “But it’s a decision by the FIM and they have the upper hand. I’m curious to see what impact this new rule will have.”
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