Ducati wins superbike rules battle

Ducati has won a heated lobbying effort -- taking several months -- to have the superbike rules allow 1200 twins to race in the championship, against one-litre multis.

The FIM has just announced the decision after was what at times a bitter debate, where some teams, such as Suzuki's lead crew, threatened to pull out of the series.

Rules in the early years of the championship restricted multis to 750 and twins to 1000cc, but complaints of it turning into a Ducati walk-over lead to an evening up of the capacity limits to a litre all round.

However Ducati has been arguing it is now at a disadvantage, and says the bigger capacity will help to differentiate the series from MotoGP, which switched from two-stroke to four-stroke a few years ago.

The announcement is likely to encourage Aprilia to put its 1200cc V-twin project into top gear. It was initially timed for release late in 2008.

The FIM announcement says: After consultation with all the parties involved and upon the proposal submitted by the Superbike Commission, the FIM has decided the following amendment and additions to the Superbike World Championship technical rules for 2008.

Displacement:

Minimum weights:

Minimum weight of 2 cylinders over 850cc up to 1200cc will be updated, if needed, during the Championship in steps of ±3kg to 171kg as a maximum and 162kg as a minimum.

Inlet sizes will also be restricted to 50mm for twins, and may be changed by organisers in increments of 2mm as the season goes on.

Manufacturers will have to produce 1000 machines for homologation, irrespective of their total production nuimbers, and 3000 from 2010.

World Superbike link

(Pic: Ducati)