Leon Haslam in front of Alvaro Bautista on the HRC Honda CBR-1000RR-R SP – the two secret favorites on the fast course in Motorland Aragon. Your Honda can turn a full 1000 rpm higher than the Kawasaki, which is particularly advantageous in terms of acceleration and top speed, because the engine is sure to get around 10 hp more power than the Kawasaki and Yamaha (© HRC Honda).

Bayliss with an accident and FIM tramples the idea of sport

First, the good news: Troy Bayliss fell badly on his racing bike and suffered vertebral injuries, but he reported from Australia and gave the all-clear, except for a long period of convalescence. The 52-year-old Australian suffered a bicycle accident in his native Australia, but is already back home and can prepare for his rehabilitation there. For more about the years in which the Ducati icon became world champion, see our constantly growing history of the earlier WSBK years. What the fans noticed almost at the same time, see yesterday’s article “Scandal before Aragon”, is unfortunately a very black chapter in sports history.

Troy Bayliss photographed by us as a co-commentator on March 1st, 2020 in Phillip Island at the WorldSBK season opener. The Ducati icon is a national hero in his country Australia.

Allegations of manipulation against the FIM are substantiated
Even after the introduction of the Ducati Panigale V4R with its astronomically high speed, there was talk in the paddock of deliberate manipulation of equal opportunities by the FIM. With the MotoGP Replica, Alvaro Bautista won all the first 9 races by a large margin. On the straights from BuriRam, for example, we were able to observe with our own eyes how the little Spaniard could easily drive 50 or more meters out on Jonathan Rea. From Aragon on, its speed was reduced by a ridiculous 250 rpm, which of course was a bad joke at over 16,000 rpm maximum speed. That is why things continued on the long straights of Portimão and Losail later.

The hair-raising injustice immediately catches the eye, even without the yellow colour. The Ducati Panigale V4R is allowed to turn a full 1500 rpm higher than the new Kawasaki ZX-10RR, it is like a bad joke what the FIM has just allowed itself to do with it.

The screaming injustice before the start of the season
Although another model had to be re-homologated at the same time as the BMW M-1000RR, the FIM waited until literally the last minute before the first race to announce its bad news for motorcycle racing. It was clear, of course, that Kawasaki and the public would protest loudly against this. With an absolutely outrageous justification, the new ZX-10RR was formally castrated before the start of the season, especially against Ducati, Honda and the new BMW. With their low blow, the officials not only hit Jonathan Rea, but all Kawasaki pilots, thus reducing the idea of ​​sport to absurdity. It would have been correct to use the same engine principle for BMW and Kawasaki, at least at the level of the Honda. If the Kawasaki Ninja were really too fast after 3 laps, only then should the maximum speed be reduced accordingly, but not by 500 rpm in one fell swoop, as in previous years. But as it is, the idea of ​​sport is simply trampled underfoot.

>Aragon preview: see separate report on this page.

Troy Bayliss (Ducati Xerox) had a serious sports accident while training with his bike in Australia and almost at the same time the FIM published the new maximum revs for BMW and Kawasaki at the last minute, exposing them to the targeted accusation of manipulation.

Unless otherwise mentioned, applies to all images (© WorldSBK).