Alvaro Bautista wins 2022 Superbike World Championship

After years of dominance by Kawasaki Racing Team’s Jonathan Rea, the Motul FIM Superbike World Championship has welcomed its second new champion in as many years, with Alvaro Bautista winning the 2022 championship at the penultimate round of the season.

The Spaniard, who made his World Superbike (WSBK) debut in 2019 with Aruba.it Racing Ducati after 16 years in grand prix racing, was unbeatable in the first half of that season before falling away.

Two fruitless years with Honda in 2020-21 saw Bautista return to Ducati in 2022, but there was no drop off this time around - the 37-year-old won early and kept on winning or finishing on the podium.

Despite this, Bautista’s championship lead was only 16 points coming into the fifth round at Donington in July. A DNF and fourth place finish there gave his rivals, Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team) and defending champion Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha with Brixx), some hope, but after three wins from three starts at Catalunya in September, the Spaniard’s margin had grown to 59 points and would increase again to 82 points after the Argentine round at San Juan de Villicum in October.

While 82 points was a strong lead, it wasn’t unbeatable, as a total of 124 points were on offer across the final two rounds, so both Razgatlioglu (82 points behind) and Rea (98 points behind) were mathematical chances.

In Superpole for the penultimate round at Mandalika, Razgatlioglu claimed the number one grid spot ahead of Rea, while Bautista qualified fifth. The opening race saw Bautista improve from fifth to a podium position within the first few laps and go on to finish second behind Razgatlioglu, which cut his margin to 77 points.

The next day’s Superpole Race also went the way of Razgatlioglu, with Rea second, but with only half points for the sprint race, Bautista’s fourth place saw his championship lead only cut to 71 points.

Sunday’s Race 2 at Mandalika was a carbon copy of Saturday’s result, with Razgatlioglu winning from Bautista and Rea. That was enough to leave Bautista with an unbeatable 66-point championship lead over the Yamaha rider ahead of the twelfth and final round at Phillip Island.

“It’s incredible, I’m so happy. It’s a dream come true, especially after the last two years and all the difficulties,” Bautista said, referencing the lack of success with Honda in 2020-21.

“I want to say thanks to everyone who trusted me, to give me this chance to fight for good places and we got the Championship at the first time trying.

“Today was the first time I felt a bit nervous or stressed,” the new champion added. “In Race 2 on the grid before the start, I tried to manage the emotions and when I was in first, I was making a lot of mistakes because I had too many thoughts in my head [so] I just preferred to say second behind Toprak. So happy.”

While Spanish riders have dominated MotoGP in recent years, Bautista’s WSBK crown is only the second for a Spanish rider, following Carlos Checa in 2011. For Bautista, it’s his first world championship of any type since taking the 125cc world title in 2006.

Bautista’s title is the 15th WSBK Riders’ Championship for Ducati, who also won the 2022 Manufacturers’ Championship over Yamaha. The World Superbike title came a week after Ducati also won the 2022 Riders’ Teams’ and Manufacturers’ World Championships in MotoGP.

Months before winning the 2022 WSBK Riders’ Championship, Bautista confirmed he’d remain in WSBK with the Aruba.it Ducati factory team for 2023, so will be out to defend his title next year in a season that kicks off at Phillip Island in February.