Matthias Moser (TripleM Ducati) calls for clearer rules for Euro Moto

The rev limit imposed by the Balance of Performance on the Ducati Panigale V4Rs ridden by multiple race winner Lukas Tulovic and Lorenzo Zanetti – who is sixth in the overall standings and whose best result of the season is sixth place – remained a key issue at the fifth Euro-Moto meeting in Assen.

An out-of-this-world rider

Whilst Tulovic, despite his obvious displeasure, gave SPEEDWEEK.com some insight into his state of mind, his boss, team owner Matthias Moser, was not entirely emotionless, but remained as composed as ever. So, following his star rider’s encouraging second and third-place finishes, he began his account of how he saw things with the words: “First of all, we’re pleased with how it turned out. We’ve picked up some very good points and still have every chance of winning the championship at the Nürburgring. So I’m very pleased that the result was satisfactory. And it’s important to say that Lukas put in an out-of-this-world performance, driving so fast with that handicap.”

Whilst in a conciliatory mood, at least as far as the sporting side was concerned, Moser also had a few points of criticism. He said: “The regulations have actually achieved the exact opposite of what they were originally intended for. Because the aim was actually to restrict the technical design of the motorbike, not the rider. The way it was set up this time, it was exclusively the rider who was held back, because it’s almost impossible to comply with the specified regulations and ride like that. So the way the rule was interpreted was very unfair. What annoys me most of all is that we were given absolutely no leeway on revs. Just one rev above 15,600 rpm would have resulted in immediate disqualification. That simply wasn’t right.”

Zero tolerance

It should be noted that there are various penalties for all offences, with certain margins and tolerances. “For example, they could have imposed a one-second penalty for one instance of exceeding the limit, and five seconds for two. As far as I’m concerned, they could have disqualified me for five offences. But one extra revolution in a 15-lap race is simply not fair,” Moser concludes.

You can’t have a good championship if there’s constant complaining, protesting and disqualification.

Matthias Moser

At the same time, he is concerned about the series as a whole and went on to say: “You can see from the entry numbers that the series has a problem. The series must resolve this problem; otherwise, it cannot continue. I’m certainly prepared to do my bit to solve these problems. I do this out of passion and would very much like to carry on doing so. But things cannot go on as they are now. I’m sure everyone involved agrees on that.”

Specifically, he said: “One important point is that the regulations absolutely must be amended. For example, as the regulations stand at present, they constantly lead to penalties, protests and disqualifications.”

Wave of complaints sweeps through the series

He cited the disqualification of the Holzhauer team at Oschersleben as an example. “We simply have to get rid of this whole wave of complaints. You can’t run a good championship if there are constant complaints, protests and disqualifications. This affects not only the Superbikes, but also the other classes. I’d point to the Sportbike class, where Kawasaki are no longer competing, which is probably also down to a mess of rules. The rules need to be formulated more clearly, and we need to ensure in advance that the regulations can actually be implemented.”

This brings him back to his specific case: “Our motorbike is homologated as it is, with two modifications to the homologated model. It was clear from the outset that it is not allowed to rev at 16,600 rpm – which the motorbike is capable of – but only at 16,100 rpm. And it must weigh 175 kilograms instead of 170. That was clear from the outset. However, it was never stipulated that it must be possible to reduce the revs at any time. If we’d implemented that now, it would have been very expensive, meaning we would have exceeded the price cap – and by a significant margin. That would have made the motorbike illegal.”

Lukas Tulovic

Foto: Thorten Horn