Rumors abound in the European press that Ducati is putting pressure on the WSB organizers to revise the series rules, allowing twin-cylinder bikes to have up to 1200cc displacement to compete against the 1000cc four-cylinders.
Of course, we’ve already tried this once; up until a few years ago, four-cylinder WSB machines were limited to 750cc displacement, while twins were allowed up to 1000cc. The result was a series that was dominated by Ducati’s 916/996 racebikes – partially prompting the change to a flat 1000cc limit for all engine configurations.
Now Ducati claims that their 1000cc V-Twins are at the limit of their power production capabilities, with the four-cylinders already producing more power and with even more yet to come (for more information about different engine configurations and their potential power outputs, check out my article from last February, An Analysis of MotoGP Engine Configurations).
Ducati carries a lot of clout within the WSB series, since they supply bikes to more teams than any other manufacturer. Obviously a rules change would be ideal for Ducati; however, the question is, what would be best for the series? The objective, of course, is to attain a parity of competition, without giving any one brand or design an advantage.
