WorldSBK’s technical director Gregorio Lavilla has defended the championship’s mixed minimal weight rule after Álvaro Bautista’s decline in type over the previous two seasons was repeatedly criticized.
The rider and bike mixed minimal weight rule impacts riders whose minimal weight is lower than 80kg and the place the bike and rider mixture doesn’t meet the mixed minimal weight of 168kg. For each drop under the minimal restrict, 0.5kg of ballast is added to the bike.
The rule was launched in 2024 after Bautista had two dominant seasons in a row, profitable 27 of 36 races in 2023 and making the Spaniard the lightest rider on the World Superbike grid.
Since then, Bautista has received 4 races in 2024 and none in 2025, ending third in each seasons behind Toprak Razgatlioglu and Nicolo Brega.
This 12 months, Bautista made a selected effort to criticize guidelines aimed toward equality between riders of various sizes.
The Spaniard described the rule as “discrimination” after the Misano spherical, and has repeatedly advised all year long that he’s at an obstacle in comparison with his rivals on account of being compelled to run with ballast weight.
Nonetheless, WorldSBK technical director Gregorio Lavilla defended the rule, saying it was “not an assault on anybody.”
“Not everybody has the identical complete weight. That is not doable,” Lavilla stated of the minimal complete weight rule on the PecinoGP YouTube channel.
“This can be a system that brings the common nearer collectively.
“The utmost restrict for ballast is 10kg and isn’t supposed to assault anybody.
“Time passes and time passes for everybody. And I wish to say that Bautista can nonetheless trip a motorbike and win as a result of he stays gentle even at 60 years previous.”
Lavilla added: “The load might have affected some elements, however he continues to be a aggressive rider. There is no one in opposition to him.”
