First laps in Jerez, without the champion Razgatlioglu absent due to injury: the Ducati will not have limitations on engine revs but be careful about ballast and consumption
There is anticipation for the first SBK winter tests on 22-23 January in Jerez, in particular to verify the effects of the new 2025 technical rules. Not insignificant rules, regarding the engine rpm limit, ballast for the riders, concessions, super concessions, limited fuel and we could continue in a merry-go-round where not everything is yet clear even to the experts, teams and manufacturers in the lead, not to mention the drivers. What is certain is that it will be, at least on a technical level, a SBK, if not distorted, however different from that of the last editions.
sbk, news and not
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The displacement does not change and remains 1000 cc. The first novelty – and what novelty! – is the abolition of the engine rpm limit. From 2025, each team will be able to spin their engines as they see fit, as best they can. As is known, for example Ducati was forced to use a limiter at 16,100 rpm, 400 rpm less than the road-going Panigale V4. The limit of 250 laps more or less, as is known, was imposed and then removed based on what was happening on the track. Do you win? Via 250 laps. Do you lose? Add 250 spins. This is the schematic but real translation. So much so that last season the Ducatis often had to run with the 15,850 rpm bar. If on one side it is given, on another side it is taken away. The goal remains the show on the track. To achieve this, we aim to find “all the same” performances. Then it’s one thing to say it, another thing to do it. In the end, it is the driver who makes the difference. The latest technical innovation is consumption control. Two new rules. Smaller tanks because the fuel limit drops by 3 litres: from 24 to 21. Not only that. There is a requirement for an unprecedented flow regulator calibrated at 47 Kg/h. What is it for? Once the imposition of the engine rpm limiter has been abolished, the power must still be reduced otherwise you will run out of steam and cross the finish line by pushing the motorbike by hand. But, as is known, it is not only the maximum rotation speed that affects fuel consumption. On the same motorbike, two riders with different riding styles and styles produce different fuel consumption.
concessions in sbk
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At the center of the discussions, or rather at the center of the controversies, remains the issue of the super concessions to BMW. If the knot has been untied, the controversies remain. In 2025, the BMWs of Toprak Razgatlioglu&c. they will not be able to take advantage of the super concessions. That is, it means that they will not be able to use components (engine and chassis) other than the approved M1000RR. Controversy on this had been raging since the beginning of the 2024 season, that is, since – according to the complicated rules – BMW should have raced without such super concessions after the results of the first three rounds. The response from the organizers closed the discussions: the super concessions are valid for the whole season. Point. But the wheel turns. And in 2025 BMW will no longer enjoy the advantage of super concessions. The “advantage” will be for Yamaha, Honda, Kawasaki and Bimota, debuting with its new, eagerly awaited, KB998. It should be added that BMW was not surprised by homologating an unprecedented M1000RR, effectively a “copy”, both in terms of engine and chassis, of the racing car used in the 2024 world championship, under the super concession regime.
ballast puzzle for the pilots
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The one who is still disappointed is Alvaro Bautista, the only one (out of 23 riders in the field) “ballasted” also in 2025, like last season. The questionable weight limit of 80 kilos for the pilot in “race order” is repeated, everything included (suit, helmet, boots, gloves, protections). Extra work at Ducati, given that only Bautista’s bike incurs this limit, a gap that is more accentuated this year with the new restrictive rules on consumption. Meanwhile, the one who is worse off, at least temporarily, is Razgatlioglu himself. The World Champion misses the first SBK tests on January 22nd and 23rd in Jerez due to the recent accident in training with an enduro motorbike. Toprak injured the index finger of his right hand and required surgery. But, as already seen in the official presentation of the BMW Team last January 17th in Berlin, everything is already ok: it is said that the Turkish champion will be riding his new M1000RR in the subsequent tests in Portimao, on January 28-29th, together with the teammate Michael Van der Mark. We’ll see.
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