SBK, Serafino Foti: "Bautista didn’t win the title due to his weight”

2022 proved to be a winning year all round for Ducati, with the Borgo Panigale manufacturer sweeping the board in both Superbike and MotoGP and returning to the top of the world after a long absence. An eleven-year absence in fact, in terms of WorldSBK, its last win dating back to 2011, with Carlos Checa. Following a series of championships in which the title win was close but not close enough, Bautista’s victory puts an end to a curse that had gone on too long, particularly considering the bike’s competitiveness: "The season was hard and intense, the whole team did a great job, from the engineers to the technicians to those working at home. We learned from previous years; it’s been a tough path but it strengthened us. Coming second on several occasions allowed us to understand where to improve and this year we got the job done". These, the words of Serafino Foti, Ducati Team Manager.

 

Serafino Foti is clear: "Credit should always go to the winner, we’ve never complained when we didn’t win”

During the second half of the season, the "minimum weight” debate kicked off, with talk of a possible early introduction of the ruling (the current plan is to introduce it in 2024). Certain manufacturers are pushing for this, highlighting how the current situation favours the slight build of a rider like Bautista, but Ducati does not agree. Serafino Foti comments: "The other teams have run with this and want to try and get it introduced already next year. We’ll see what happens, perhaps a compromise will need to be made but this needs to be a two-way street of course, not all one-way. They’re trying to do something by 2023 although this measure should come into force in 2024. It also takes time to test everything and we’re already in December. These things would need to be carefully studied, by carrying out tests and optimising weight, so we don’t think it can be done immediately.”

The Ducati Team Manager goes on to respond to those who fail to recognise the merits of the current champion, referring to direct rivals Yamaha and Kawasaki: "Credit should always be given to the winner. The six championships that Rea won are to be admired, everyone did a great job. We’ve never complained or pointed the finger at anyone and now, with Alvaro, we’ve achieved the top prize. We knew that, with his particularly riding style, he’d be able to adapt perfectly to the bike’s characteristics and we’ve tried our best to consolidate this pairing, which we knew was a winning combination right from 2019".

 

The Team Manager praises the Spaniard: "Many forget Bautista’s value"

Foti continues, underlining just how frustrating certain comments are when the merit of team and rider are called into question: “We’ve always given credit to those who won before us, Yamaha and Kawasaki. This year I think we can take the credit. It’s a little annoying to read certain comments, as if we only won for specific reasons. We won because we did a great job and because we have a great rider – many forget that Alvaro was a 125 world champion, battled for the 250 title with poor Marco Simoncelli and often finished top five in MotoGP, during the era of Valentino Rossi, Casey Stoner, Jorge Lorenzo and Dani Pedrosa. We’re talking about an incredibly high-level rider. So I think credit should be given where it’s due.”

The campaign to introduce the minimum weight rule ahead of time seems destined to continue. Ducati is clear on this issue and Serafino Foti also points out how the weight issue was often a problem for Bautista and his team this year and not simply an advantage. "We’ll see what the future brings, it’s never good to carry on arm-wrestling. Bautista didn’t win the title because of his weight, and carrying little weight actually brings both disadvantages and advantages. For example, on cold tracks Alvaro’s tyre temperature is always lower because his light weight doesn’t allow the tyres to heat right away so it’s riskier on the first laps. The same goes in the wet, the tyre temperature is always lower than it is for everyone else. At tracks like Portimao, with many changes of direction, the tyres don’t heat. In this sense, some of the heavier riders are able to get the bike into position with their weight, so there are advantages and disadvantages.”

The Italian team manager adds: "This is the first time this issue has been raised. Dani Pedrosa was very small too but it didn’t give him an advantage. It’s not Bautista’s weight that saw him win. Also, in terms of safety, the Superbikes are the heaviest race bikes of all, 168kg, more than the MotoGP bikes. When you run off track at 300km\h, 5-10 kg can have a bearing on safety. The weight rule might work in cases where the bikes are lighter, like in Moto3 for example.”

 

Serafino Foti: "If Bautista were to race with another manufacturer in 2024?"

To better explain the current situation, which gives the Italian manufacturer no advantage, Foti describes a possible future scenario: "If Bautista were to race with another manufacturer in 2024, what would the people who are currently pushing for this rule do if they were the ones with the light rider? Right now, it’s as if we were penalised. In the past, we’ve debated trying to reduce the weight of the other bikes, finding a compromise, this would be a little like that".

Lastly, Foti responds to Toprak Razgatlioglu who questioned why Ducati continues to develop a bike that is already a winner: "If you slow down, you lose. Ducati is ahead, it has built an incredible production bike, our frame is standard, and the engine essentially is too. The other manufacturers are free to adopt the same philosophy – it’s not Ducati’s fault if it has built a high-performance road bike, we also saw it at the Race of Champions where it set some incredible times. We could also suggest that everyone rides with the relevant road bike. Also, in Superbike history, Ducati has always had bikes that cost more than those of the Japanese manufacturers like the 916 or 888; Ducati isn’t just choosing this policy now, it’s been the firms’ philosophy for thirty years."