Bautista: I’ll struggle more in ‘24, Toprak will fight for title

The Ducati rider’s main concern is the new WorldSBK minimum weight limit, which means riders under 80kg will have to add 50% of the (kg) difference to their bikes in the form of ballast.

For Bautista that equates to an extra 7kg on top of the 168kg minimum machine weight.

“They made this new [rider weight] rule and I don’t agree,” Bautista told GPone.com.

“Being small and light does not only mean advantages, [it also means] many problems such as when warming up the tyres and changing direction.

“I understand that they want to balance the performance on track, but this is not the correct way to do it in my opinion.

“I will certainly struggle more, because I will have to be more aggressive in my movements and I will need more braking distance to stop the [heavier] bike.

“For us this is not the best option, but we will see what happens.”

The next best Ducati rider in last year's world championship was team-mate Michele Rinaldi, in fifth.

Meanwhile, on title rival Toprak Razgatlioglu’s winter move from Yamaha to BMW, Bautista said:

“To me, Toprak’s choice to go to BMW didn’t seem bad, given that they invested a lot in Germany. Furthermore, the moment you get a rider like Razgatlioglu, it means you are aiming for the title.

“Personally, I expect him to fight for the title from the first year. But besides him, Rea will also be there with Yamaha and I’m curious to see [new team-mate and reigning WorldSSP champion] Bulega.”