Ducati to lose concessions from 2016

Ducati will lose all concessions for 2016 with an announcement today by the Grand Prix Commission stating that “any team that scores six concession points in wet or dry will lose all concessions for the following season.”

These concessions have been the lifting of restrictions on testing, engine development and other advantages given to teams. Ducati, and Suzuki and Aprilia, have been able to avail of these throughout the year but with the introduction of a single ECU and the removal of the softer Open class tyre from 2016 the GPC has been keen to ensure that there is greater parity amongst the teams.

Ducati has been able to use the advantages inherit within the Open Class and Factory Open class to use these concessions to get much more competitive over the course of the last 18 months. Their use of the softer tyre was something that has irked their rivals throughout the season but the key for Ducati has been the ability to develop and test their developments. This option will still be available to concession teams and it will be the lifeblood of the hopes of Suzuki, Aprilia and KTM when they rejoin.

The announcement made today did not state the number of engines that are available to teams next year. At the moment concession teams have 12 engines available to them rather than the five available to non-concession teams. The GPC did however announce that there will be a provision in the regulations to allow manufacturers to have three different specifications of engines available to teams at the start of the campaign however they will need to select one design for this season.

This regulation is in place due to the variety of engines currently on the grid. For instance, Yamaha has three specifications available to the Factory team, their satellite team Tech3 and their Open class team Forward Racing. As a result Yamaha, and Ducati, are able to supply multiple teams with bikes of varying specifications.