The Ducati rider’s main concern is the new WorldSBK minimum weight limit, which means riders under 80kg will have to add 50% of the (kg) difference to their bikes in the form of ball🐬ast.

For Bautista that equates to an extra 7kg🐠 on top of the 168kg minimum machine weight.

“They made this new [rider weight] r🍃ule and I don’t agree,” Bautista told .

“Being small and light does not only mean advantages, [it also means] many problems such as when warmin🎃g up the tyres and changing direction.

“I understand tha🍸t they want to balance the performance on track, but this is not the correct way to do it in my opinion.

“I will certainly struggl𓃲e more, because I will have to be more aggressive in my movements and I will need more braking distance to stop the [⛦heavier] bike.

“For us this is not the b﷽est option, but we will see what happens.”

The next best Ducati rider in last year's world championship was tea💮m-mate Michele Rinaldi, in fifth.

Meanwhile, on title riva🦂l Toprak Razgatlioglu’s 🍸winter move from Yamaha to BMW, Bautista said:

“To me, Toprak’s choice to go to BMW didn’t seem bad, given that they invested a lot in Germany. F🍬urthermore, the moment you get a rider like Razgatlioglu, it means you are aiming for the title.

“Personally, I expect him to fight for the title from the first year. But besides him, Rea will also be there with Yamaha and I’m curious to see [new team-mate and reigning WorldSSP chꦅampion] Bulega.”