Ducati hit back at Yamaha over Bautista criticism: ‘They have bigger problems’
Serafino Foti hits back at Paul Denning’s claim that Alvaro Bautista has acted ‘pathetic’.
Paul Denning allegedly called Alvaro Bautista’s complaints over the new minimum WorldSBK weight limit for rider and bike ‘pathetic’.
Bautista, who after suffering a shoulder injury at the end of last season, has struggled to be at the front of the field due to the new weight limit rule which has impacted him more than any other rider.
And as a result, Bautista has not been shy in his criticism of the new rule, including when speaking to Crash.net prior to the season getting underway.
“It’s not fair to add more weight,” said Bautista during our exclusive interview. “In the end, the rule is not made for me, it’s for the championship but I’m the only rider who has to put weight on the bike.
“I’m the only rider that is penalised by this rule. And for me it’s not fair that, if me and Ducati work hard and well and we arrive at a good performance, that’s it’s fair to penalise good work.
“I understand that they want to make a very competitive championship, but I think it’s better to help the other manufacturers or the other riders like they did in MotoGP with some concession - but to improve their level, not to penalise our performance.
“For me, I understand that they want a more competitive championship and I agree, but don’t penalise my performance.
“If my performance is high, why do you take my performance down to equal out the championship? No! You have to help the others to arrive at my performance.
“I’m angry because it’s not fair that they penalise you when you do good work. In life, when you do things well people have to applaud you.
“Here, you do good work and you have to go down and be worse. I don’t understand but it is the mentality of this championship. It is a bit strange.”
However, Denning has not felt sorry for the two-time world champion, reportedly telling Motorsport-total that his complaints were ‘pathetic’.
As a result, Bautista’s Aruba.it Ducati team principal, Serafino Foti has come to the defence of the Spaniard.
Speaking to GPOne, Foti said: “I think certain declarations are disrespectful to a two-time world champion. Alvaro has deservedly won two world championships.
“Also, before thinking about others, I think it is better to look closer to home, because it seems to me that Yamaha has bigger problems than Bautista.
From this point of view I want to be clear because I am curious to understand how the regulation has been interpreted by others.
“I want to do this so that we can bring this issue to an end definitively.”
Foti also when into further detail about the challenges Bautista has faced, because the ex-MotoGP rider has not only lost weight, but the weight of his Panigale V4 R has increased.
Foti stated: “Today, Bautista’s bike weights 5kg more than last year. How we applied the weight is another matter because the regulations allow it.
“Irrespective of everything, what matters is the weight at the end of the race, which has to be 173kg.
“I am personally surprised when I read certain considerations because it will probably be true that we have 2-3kg of ballast, but the bike weighs 5kg more than last year.”
