Spanish rider Bautista spoke about his return to Ducati, working with teammate Rinaldi and how 2022 will be “fun” with so many riders at the front…

One of the big moves in the 2022 MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship rider market was Alvaro Bautista’s return to the Aruba.it Racing – Ducati squad for the 2022 season after two years with Team HRC. With a high amount of intrigue around his return to the Bologna manufacturer, Bautista sat down at a recent two-day test to discuss his move back to Ducati, how working with new teammate Michael Ruben Rinaldi will benefit both riders and his rivals in 2022.

RETURNING TO DUCATI

Bautista burst onto the WorldSBK scene in 2019 with the Ducati Panigale V4 R and won the first 11 races of the season as he took the Championship fight to Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK). Ultimately, the Ulsterman would claim his fifth title in 2019 before adding a sixth in 2020, with Bautista opting for a new project in 2020 and 2021 with Team HRC as Honda returned with a full-factory squad. Three podiums for Bautista were all the Spanish rider could score in those two seasons and he will now compete for Ducati again in the 2022 season.

Discussing his return, and re-adapting to the Panigale V4 R, Bautista said: “I came back to Ducati so I’m quite happy because I had good memories from my first season in WorldSBK with Ducati. I won a lot of races but especially the atmosphere was fantastic, and I felt really good riding the bike; I enjoyed it a lot. I’m happy to come back and hope to enjoy this season like I enjoyed 2019. I decided to come back after two years with Honda, I suffered a lot because the bike was quite new and needed a lot of development. At mid-season of 2021, Aruba spoke with me and they wanted me, and I wanted to come back to them so in the end, it was very easy. I like to enjoy riding the bike and in the last two seasons, I didn’t.

WORKING WITH RINALDI…

Bautista will have a new teammate at Ducati as he works with Italian rider Rinaldi in the 2022 season, having been teammates with Chaz Davies in 2019; Davies will still be around the team as the rider coach. Bautista spoke about how Rinaldi’s similar stature in terms of weight and height could benefit both riders in the 2022 season.

Bautista said: “I think we’re more or less the same kind of rider, small and light. I think it’s very positive because in the past, with Chaz, we were very different and also our riding style was very different. It’s not easy to get a good setup for both riders. With Rinaldi, we have very similar riding styles and also weight and height. I think it’s easier for the engineers. Also, he’s very young, and he wants to win as well. He wants to show his potential and it’ll be very interesting because the first rider you want to beat is your teammate. It will be a tough season for both of us!”

2022 RIVALS

Spanish rider Bautista came into WorldSBK in 2019 and immediately took the challenge to Rea in the title battle. Although Rea came out on top in 2019 against Bautista, he has faced strong competition since then with Scott Redding when at Ducati and Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK); with the Turkish star coming out on top in the incredible 2021 season. During the interview, Bautista explained who he thinks his rivals will be in the 2022 season.

He said: “I remember in 2019, it was just Jonathan and me because if he won, I was second and if I won, he was second. In the end, there weren’t many rivals. Fortunately, this changed. We have more riders fighting for the top positions. Sometimes, it will help because, for example, in 2019 if we had more riders fighting for top positions maybe some races, I can gain more points but also you can lose more points as well. It will be interesting. I think the level of this Championship is, every year, higher and higher. Not only for the riders but also for the manufacturers. It will be fun this season because we will have many riders fighting at the front.”