SBK | Toprak, irregular saddle? Ducati asks FIM for clarification

Toprak Razgatlioglu is the absolute dominator at this stage of the 2024 season: when he decided to sign with BMW last year, no one believed it possible that the Turk could dominate races and the championship standings. Instead, the 2021 world champion has proven to be the man to beat in this Superbike that until recently was the preserve of Alvaro Bautista and his Ducati.

But what has changed? The changes to the regulations introduced this year are affecting the performance of the reigning champion, forced to have ballast on his Panigale V4R to reach the minimum weight. In addition, from Assen BMW brought a new lowered seat with the aim of having greater performance.

This very innovation has come under the scrutiny of Ducati, which has questioned the regularity of the modification. For this reason, the rumor emerged from the Donington paddock according to which the men from Borgo Panigale have asked the FIM for clarification on the regularity of the BMW saddle.

Ducati, which this year felt strongly penalized by the regulation, has always believed that it did not want to “cry like its opponents” to penalize them, on the contrary. In an interview with colleagues at GPOne, Ducati Technical Coordinator Marco Zambenedetti underlined the work being done in Borgo Panigale to improve its performance based on the current regulation.

The doubts about the regularity of the seat of Toprak Razgatlioglu’s BMW change the situation. However, it is not yet known what the developments will be, because the FIM is evaluating the clarification that was advanced by Ducati just in these hours.