Alvaro Bautista, Superbike world champion with Ducati, has a particular request for the top management of his company.
Ducati hit the bingo in the 2022 season, conquering the world titles in MotoGP and SBK respectively with Pecco Bagnaia and Alvaro Bautista. The Spaniard’s professional history has heroic contours: world champion in the 125 class, in the 250 he fails in the feat, in MotoGP he has never found a competitive bike to prove his worth. At the end of the 2018 season, after two years with the Desmosedici of the Aspar satellite team, he turned the page by moving to WorldSBK.
Same brand, but astride the Panigale V4R which seemed to be able to immediately give him the world title in Superbike World Championship. Ten victories in a row, a spectacular first part of the season, then a drop in concentration which forced him to brake in the championship and hand over the final victory to Jonathan Rea. “In truth, at the beginning I didn’t know what I was doing, I was very strong without understanding why“. Then some personal mistakes and lack of experience in the category made him lose the winning path.
Alvaro Bautista and that MotoGP dream…
In his mind there was still the thought of being able to go back in MotoGPeven if not full time. “At one point, the thought that, if I won the title, I would return to MotoGP also gave me away – admitted Alvaro Bautista to ‘La Gazzetta dello Sport’ regarding the 2019 World Cup -. If I went back to that World Cup I wouldn’t lose it“. Instead he had to start from the bottom, switching to Honda and with a bike that wasn’t yet ready to compete with the best. After two difficult years, the biggest gamble of his and Ducati’s lives: to return to the Aruba team.
To many it seemed like an incongruous choice, but he immediately demonstrated the makings of a champion, despite his parents 38 years old of age, making him the oldest driver on the grid. “I returned to Ducati because I was convinced I could win and I did. My goal is to continue like this, winning or not winning is relative, the important thing is to always give my best“, added the Superbike champion.
But the idea of the MotoGP is always on his mind. It is unthinkable to be able to race in the Top Class again at his age, but he has a gift to ask of the top management of Borgo Panigale: a private test with the Ducati Desmosedici GP: “I’d like to try it, it looks like a really fun bike. It would be a nice gift from Dall’Igna“, concluded the new world champion Alvaro Bautista.
