The WorldSBK Weight on Álvaro Bautista’s Shoulders
After Álvaro Bautista’s title winning seasons in 2022 and 2023, WorldSBK voted in a new rule to keep the sport fair however usually these restrictions are placed on the bikes themselves. This time the restriction seemed to be upon the Spaniard himself after his dominance in the series. Bautista won the 2022 season by 72 points and broke the 600 mark for points in a season with 601 and the year after he reached 628 and won by 76 points. Questions were raised at how fast he was and it was investigated. After this, more rulings came through about how to keep the sport fair.
This ruling has meant riders under the reference weight of 80kg in full gear have to add ballast – a dense material used in Formula 1 and British Touring Car Championship to help distribute weight more evenly and to make sure the races cars meet the requirements. In motorbike racing however does it do the same thing? Does it make it allegedly more fair? Under this new introduction, the only rider to have struggled under this has been Bautista himself. The only other rider on the grid to be struggling from this ruling Bautista suspects is Xavi Vierge. For every kilo below the limit that a rider is under, they must add 0.5kg of ballast to their bike with a maximum limit of 10kg.
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In Álvaro Bautista’s post and in his own words today he referred to the ruling as discriminatory. The idea that WorldSBK work with the manufacturers to keep it fair sounds impartial enough however instances where they begin to also restrict the riders instead of just the bike doesn’t make sense. They restrict the fuel consumption and they can limit the revs which they do already as well as the weight, so how does adding ballast also seem fair?
Bautista talks more about the ruling: “The problem is not the weight, it’s the combination between the bike and the rider and the abilities of the rider. It’s not fair that you reduce the abilities of the rider putting more handicaps, in this the weight, because every time that in the past they try to equal the bike, not the rider, the bike, I keep winning, I mean when they reduce the RPMs I keep winning, when they reduce even more I keep winning. I mean we can work with the bike and try to minimise that penalty but now to penalise only the rider is not fair because even with my teammate and the other riders with Ducati, I’m penalised. I cannot perform like them.”
Aruba.it Racing – Ducati has chosen to part ways with Álvaro Bautista at the end of the 2025 season despite the rider’s willingness to continue. Bautista is looking elsewhere: “I feel that physically and mentally I can keep racing. I’m not racing because just want to spend time but because I can feel I can fight for the winning. For me now it’s a problem to find a good seat because nobody wants to add weight to the their bike because if you make a bike and then add six kilo more, a bike changes a lot believe me.”
Vroom Magazine asked if Bautista thinks it’s a factor of Ducati’s decision to part ways with him and Bautista stressed his concern for the future for not only him but for other riders who are smaller: “I don’t think so, I mean Ducati know the reality and well for sure now that I’m free I’m speaking with other manufacturers because I have to to want to keep racing. For now it’s my problem but in the future it will be the problem of light riders so for me it’s not fair.”
Bautista revealed he’s speaking to MotoGP teams to test for them in case he struggles to find a full ride, wanting to stay in the championship to keep challenging what will then be his ex teammate Nicolò Bulega. However the championship winning Spaniard wants to stay full time when asked if retirement could be an option, he shut it down: “At the moment, my mind is just on keep racing no? Keep racing and then I have to find something that motivates me to keep racing. I also have to say I have some options in MotoGP not like a racer but with a lot of races like a wildcard but right now my target is just to stay like a full rider.”
Bautista this year has shown glimpses of the same competitiveness with 10 podiums – two second places and eight third places – and a best race lap. With Toprak Razgatlıoğlu moving to MotoGP in 2026, that leaves Nicolò Bulega and himself as the top two factory riders if he can find a seat. The current standings have Bulega at the top, with Toprak Razgatlıoğlu and then it’s Danilo Petrucci and seven points behind is Bautista. Bautista spoke of the health of the championship: “I think also for the championship too because next year Toprak is not here and we have Nicolo but then which other rider? Okay many riders are fast but I think I am next in the league after Nicolò.”
He continued to speak about the health of the championship and how he advised against the rule being implemented in MotoGP: “It’s true that a rider who is light for sure doesn’t want to come here because you have to add weight, not in MotoGP it doesn’t happen this and it’s a rule that I spoke with Carmelo [Ezpeleta] many times last year when he wanted to introduce this rule and he said he’s not agreeing with this rule but the problem with is that in Superbikes, the manufacturers choose the rules.
“In MotoGP it’s different but here is more about the manufacturer and I understand to keep racing in the championship, to keep going in this championship it’s important to have the support from the manufacturer and I agree that they want to make the championship as equal as possible but this rule at the end only affects only to light riders and not to the bikes. This rule doesn’t affect Ducati, it affects Bautista, they aren’t making the bike the same, they’re penalising the rider – not a manufacturer.”
