British Superbikes: North West 200 Ducati undecided over Superbike race participation

The North West 200 Ducati team has said they will be using this weekend’s Donington Park British Superbike round as an opportunity to test with the new weight regulation on their Superbike before making the decision to race on Monday.

British Superbike race organisers announced a weight rule change for V-twin machinery on Monday, stating all Superbike twin-cylinder machines had to race with a minimum weight of 175kg: an additional 10kg to what they have been running so far this season.

On Tuesday the GSE Airwaves Ducati team spoke of their frustrations with the rule change, threatening to pull out of the race weekend at the Leicestershire circuit completely.

And today the North West 200 team said they would wait until Sunday lunchtime at the earliest to make a decision on whether they would be racing.

However, with the new regulation not affecting John Laverty’s Superbike Cup machine, the NW200 Buildbase Ducati team will race as normal this weekend.

The official release reads: “Mr Kennedy [speaking on behalf of the main sponsors NW200] went on to fully endorse the statement issued by GSE Racing on Tuesday concerning the timing, lack of consultation and completely unjustified rationale for the weight penalty on the Ducati Superbike.

“Most importantly he also confirmed that JHP Racing have absolutely no supporting data as to how the Superbike will perform with this weight penalty in race set up.

”In conclusion he clarified that the team will use this weekend mainly as a test session with the new weight penalty onboard the Superbike and that no decision will be taken as to Michael Rutter’s participation in the races on Monday until Sunday lunchtime at the earliest.”