Ducati hit with rev limit drop, Honda handed increase

Ducati has been slapped with a 250RPM drop by World Superbike championship organisers following analysis into manufacturer performance from the opening three rounds, while Honda has been given a boost of 500RPM.

Alvaro Bautista has stormed to a 100% winning start to his World Superbike career with nine wins out of nine races with the new Aruba.it Racing Ducati V4 R, which raised speculation the Italian manufacturer would be hit with a rev drop under technical regulations introduced last year.

After the first three rounds, organisers are able to step in to balance performance levels of each manufacturer through concessions and maximum rev limits.

Both Ducati and Kawasaki have been denied a concession upgrade during this season, while Yamaha, BMW and Honda are permitted one upgrade which must be provided to all bikes from a manufacturer on the grid.

Ducati have been handed further restraints in a reduction of 250RPM which kicks in from the next round at Assen this weekend (April 12-14).

Honda has been given a maximum rev limit increase of 500RPM which also comes into play from Assen.

Special consideration has also been given to BMW with its new S1000RR having used a stock engine for the opening two rounds of the 2019 season. The German manufacturer used its concession upgrade on its specification engine at Aragon.

Updated rev limits:

Brand: Rev Limit

Aprilia: 14700

BMW: 14950

BMW 2019: 14900

Ducati V2: 12400

Ducati V4: 16100

Honda: 15050

Kawasaki 2018: 14100

Kawasaki 2019: 14600

MV Agusta: 14950

Suzuki: 14900

Yamaha: 14700

World Superbike organisers confirmed all calculations are made using the results of the full distance races and not the new sprint race.