Recent changes to the regulations of the World Superbike Championship, which introduce a minimum weight for the combined rider/motorcycle package in 2024, were recently announced. However, Scott Redding believes that lighter riders will still have some advantage.
The British rider, who will compete for Bonovo Action BMW, stated, as quoted by the website GPOne.com, that there is a particular aspect of the regulations that led him to this belief: ‘In 2024, the weight limit will be introduced, and I’m glad they clarified the issue. But when I read the regulations more thoroughly, I found that the minimum weight limit will be 80kg with all equipment. So, it seems to be in the perfect middle ground. However, upon reading more deeply about the new rule, I realized that if you weigh less than 80kg, you still have an advantage because for every kilogram under, you only have to add 0.5g. That’s an interesting part’.
Redding provided an example: ‘If a rider weighs 60kg plus 8kg of equipment, totaling 68kg, they would only need to add 12kg to reach 80kg. But in this bizarre situation, they only have to add 6kg, which means that for this rider, the minimum weight limit is 74kg and not 80kg. A rider weighing 92kg with all equipment would be 12kg over the 80kg limit, not 6kg. I really appreciate that WorldSBK has made this change, but it still favors lighter riders. It’s better than nothing, yes. But it’s still not fair, is it?’.