Bautista Re-signs With Ducati In World Superbikes
Spain’s Alvaro Bautista has committed to the Aruba.it Racing Ducati team in the Motul FIM Superbike World Championship for an additional season, extending his current one-year deal into 2023. At time of writing, the 37-year-old from Talavera de la Reina was leading this year’s championship thanks to six race wins and seven further podiums from the first five rounds.
Bautista came to World Superbikes after 16 years in the grand prix paddock that included winning the 125cc World Championship in 2006 and finishing runner-up in the 250cc World Championship in 2008. From 2010 to 2018, Bautista was in MotoGP, first with the Suzuki factory team, then Honda, Aprilia and Ducati, with his best results in the premier class – two podiums and fifth in the championship – achieved in 2012.
Making his WSBK debut with Aruba.it Racing Ducati in 2019, Bautista’s barnstorming start to that year’s season included victory in the first eleven races, but he ultimately finished second in the championship.
Two seasons with Team HRC followed, but Bautista achieved only three podium placings and no race wins on the Honda CBR1000RR before returning to Aruba.it Racing Ducati this year.
"I am very happy to be able to continue at least one more year with the Aruba.it Racing Ducati Team, which represents a family to me,” Bautista said.
“I have always felt good with this team and since I have returned, the feelings have been even more positive than in the 2019 season. When something works so well, we can only keep working, looking ahead. I feel I am still at the top, I feel I can still give a lot.”
Stefano Cecconi, Team Principal at Aruba.it Racing Ducati, added: "I have always believed in Alvaro from a sporting point of view, and we have always had a very good personal relationship, even when our paths temporarily parted.
“When we decided to bet on him again, some people called this a very risky gamble, but there was a conviction on both sides that we were making the right choice: results so far confirm our decision. This is also the reason why we are glad to continue our relationship with Alvaro for at least another year.”
In his second stint on the Ducati Panigale V4R, the Spaniard has so far come close to replicating his 2019 form, taking six race wins and seven podiums in the first five rounds, including a streak from rounds 1 through 4 where he finished on the podium in every race.
At time of writing, after five of twelve rounds in this year's WSBK championship, Bautista was leading on 246 points, 17 ahead of Jonathan Rea.