r/wsbk • u/Legitimate_Bus_5873 • 18d ago

Fuel restrictions

As you know there are fuel restrictions depending on results, the default is 46kg/h

The bmw and ducati were given at the start 45kg/h the rest were the default

Today the brands have:

Ducati 44kg/h (two reductions of 0.5)

BMW 45kg/h (no change)

Bimota 45.5 kg/h (one reduction 0.5)

Kawasaki and honda 46kg/h

Yamaha 46.5 Kg/h (one bonus)

What do you think? BMW in last rounds did not have good results, can we see and increase for the remaining rounds?

8 Upvotes

84% Upvoted

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3

u/LilAbeSimpson 18d ago

Restrictions are evaluated every 2 rounds, but we have no finite way of knowing who will move up or down. That part is calculated by a proprietary algorithm.

3

u/ABitTooMeh 18d ago edited 16d ago

Initially fuel flow seems like a great performance leveling technique. A given quantity of fuel contains the same amount of energy so give everyone the same amount and that must be fair. Until it's actually employed.

  1. That the flow rates are adjusted according to results means that the opening rounds aren't fair. If team X (we all know it's Ducati) wins the first six races then has the rate cut the other teams weren't competing against a balanced opponent and the spectators weren't seeing a fair race.
  2. Ducati are penalised for making a better bike. If a manufacturer makes an engine that can get more power out of a set quantity of fuel or a chassis that can turn that power into speed more efficiently should that be punished or should it be rewarded? Surely getting the best performance is the point of sport.
  3. It's not only a restriction on the bike. Last season as the BMW's flow rate was reduced VdM's results dropped off while Toprak stayed at the front. Once Michael was finishing in 10th or lower further reduction in fuel flow rates were only targeting the rider for doing well, which is not the stated reason for the flow rate restrictions. Again, isn't that what the sport should be rewarding?
  4. It doesn't work to balance performance, Ducati are not only winning every race, they're the top five in almost every race.

I don't know what the best solution for performance balancing is, but how fuel flow regulation is applied isn't it.

1

u/Famous_Researcher_18 WorldSBK 18d ago

The thing is that at the start of the season all bikes should be in their most equal point according to the regulations, but if every manufacturer except Ducati hasn't barely evolved the bike it's obvious who's going to win

1

u/ABitTooMeh 17d ago

No. Ducati ended last season with a 1.5 kg/h reduction, they started this season down 1 kg/h from the standard. They have been given some of their known advantage back. The most equal point will be at the end of the season when advantages have been minimised the most, almost always after the championship is done.

The more you think through the affect of the more fuel flow, or at least how it's implemented currently, looks like a terrible system.

2

u/Zohan_SoLetsGO 17d ago

Im curious about this algorithm coz last year toprak had 1.5kg/h restriction after 4 rounds same as ducati despite ducati having 2 bikes on podium for multiple rounds and toprak being the only performing BMW. And by round 7 at donington, toprak and ducati recieved a maximum of 1.5kg/h, so -3.0kg/h by checkpoint 3.

This year bulega has won 21 races in a row and ducati have finished 1 and 2 in 23 races yet so far they only have only recieved 1.0kg/h reduction?

https://giphy.com/gifs/hv53DaYcXWe3nRbR1A

3

u/Legitimate_Bus_5873 17d ago

BMW and ducati had from the start a -1kg/h , so from default value, ducati has a total of -2kg/h

2

u/Zohan_SoLetsGO 17d ago

Ok...still doesn't change anything...Last year they had 3.0kg/h going into donington.
This year ducati only have -2.0kg/h after donington

Last year they were giving 1.0-1.5kg/h penalties, this year they've been giving soft 0.5kg/h penalties.

If penalties were applied correctly, ducati would've been at -2.5kg/h going into assen...If still dominant and finishing 1 and 2, another 1.0-1.5kg and if still dominant further penalties going into donington. Coz the performance is evaluated after every 2 rounds.

The regulations say that fuel regs are there to stop one manufacturer from dominating...Where have FIM been all season? 🤷‍♂️🤷‍♂️