There has been a lot of commotion surrounding Lukas Tulovic’s Ducati in recent weeks. Now the defending EURO MOTO Superbike champion can breathe a sigh of relief. At the penultimate round of the season at the Nürburgring this coming weekend, he will no longer have to hold himself back.
In Retrospect: Following Lukas Tulovic’s one-two finish in Oschersleben, Triple M Ducati Frankfurt team manager Matthias Moser received a notice. The content of the notice came as no surprise. After four dominant victories in a row, a reduction in the Panigale V4R’s engine speed was called for.
The measure is part of the Balance of Performance, which has been in effect since the start of the season, and is therefore clearly defined. It is intended to ensure a balanced competitive landscape on the grid. For Ducati, however, its implementation turned out to be a special case.
While other manufacturers allow riders to adjust the engine speed relatively easily via software, this is not readily possible on the current Panigale V4R. According to team manager Matthias Moser, the new V4R uses Ducati’s in-house electronics. Therefore, changes to the engine speed limit can only be made by the manufacturer.
At the last race in Assen, the required measures had not yet been implemented as planned. The last-minute solution was unusual. Tulovic’s right wrist served as a rev limiter. With a maximum allowed speed of 15,600 rpm, the defending champion had to make sure himself that the Panigale V4R didn’t rev any higher.
That’s all over now. Following the summer break at Ducati in Italy, the engine control units on the motorcycles ridden by Lukas Tulovic and his teammate Lorenzo Zanetti were modified. Today, Tuesday, Matthias Moser received confirmation that the new rev limit had been successfully programmed into the engine control units.
This means both riders can head into the penultimate round of the EURO MOTO season without holding anything back. For Tulovic, the weekend in the Eifel could be a very special one anyway. If the defending champion takes both wins in the Superbike class, he can clinch the championship title early at the Nürburgring. “That’s the goal,” Moser says. “Tulo wants to win. The whole team wants it.”
With four races remaining in the season, Tulovic leads the overall standings by 46.5 points over Marcel Schrötter (BMW).