Shock for Tulovic in the title race: disqualification over a millisecond

The Triple M Ducati Frankfurt team and Euro Moto Superbike rider Lukas Tulovic had to wait three hours for the series stewards to reach their decision: disqualification and a penalty demotion to ninth place. The defending champion’s Superpole 2 result had been completely struck off. You could tell that Lukas Tulovic was seething on the inside and that any comment he might have made would hardly have been fit to print. Team owner Matthias Moster was also visibly agitated following the announcement of the verdict, but at least he was willing to give an interview to SPEEDWEEK.com.

Following his winning streak – Tulovic had won four times in a row – his Ducati, and that of his team-mate Lorenz Zanetti, had their engine speeds reduced by a further 500 revolutions. At Assen, the riders had to manage this restriction with a delicate touch on the throttle. Since the race at the Nürburgring, the electronics have been programmed accordingly.

Mood spoiled

This is because the Balance of Performance in Euro Moto Superbike, unlike other series such as the Italian Championship, operates a zero-tolerance policy. Go over the limit once and you’re out. The revs are monitored via the data logger, which all Superbikes have been required to carry since this year and which can be read by the DMSB/Euro Moto technicians. Since Assen, Zanetti and Tulovic have had to ride out in front after every session to have their revs checked.

“In Superpole 2, Lukas hit the grass with his rear wheel in the final corner, as he came out onto the start-finish straight,” explains Moser, trying to remain objective. “But a rev limiter cannot control the wheelspin caused by that. He was 100 revolutions over the limit for less than a second. And he was already at a disadvantage because of the wheelspin anyway.” Whilst in other series such an excess would be penalised – first with a warning, then with a time penalty – in Euro Moto they bring out the big guns straight away: disqualification.

The situation is now extremely difficult for Lukas Tulovic. As early as Friday, his closest rival in the title race, Marcel Schrötter (BMW), had put in a fast long run that nobody else could really match. As a result of the disqualification, Tulovic not only has to start from the third row with a host of BMW riders ahead of him, but the pressure is likely to have increased even further.

“Something like that is, of course, a massive hindrance,” says Moser. “This sword of Damocles is now hanging over him, along with the knowledge that even a single millisecond can result in such a penalty. As a result, he can’t ride his own line. Understandably, Lukas is in a right foul mood right now.”