The rumors had been chasing each other for weeks now, but today Alvaro Bautista has dispelled all doubts: the reigning champion will be at the starting line of the Superbike world championship again for next season. Doubts about his future had crept into the Assen round two weeks ago, in which the Spaniard had hinted that he was ready to hang up his helmet. However, this moment still seems to be far away and in 2024 he will continue his adventure in production-based derivatives with Ducati.
Landed in Superbike in 2019 with the Aruba structure, the current Ducati rider had come close to the title, to then spend two seasons in Honda. In 2022 he returned to the saddle of the Panigale V4R, conquering the world championship and bringing the Rossa back to the top of the world after eleven years (the last title was won by Carlos Checa in 2011). Bautista arrives at his home round as leader of the championship with a good 56 points ahead of his closest rival Toprak Razgatlioglu, so there are all the conditions for reconfirming himself.
The Bautista-Ducati pairing will therefore also be present in 2024, despite the announcement of the special press conference suggesting a farewell to the races. Bautista is now an experienced rider, almost 40 years old, and even in Holland he hadn’t hidden his desire to spend more time with his daughters. However, the love for the track and for the races is still very strong, therefore the two parties renew their trust, as Motorsport.com had anticipated yesterday.
“After more than twenty years in the world championship between MotoGP and SBK, I’m in the best moment of my career, not only for the results, but also for my form”, Bautista begins in his special press conference. “Physically and mentally I feel good , I am very happy with how I am working at home in an increasingly competitive way. Professionally it was clear that I was ready. Now there are factors in my life that are becoming more and more important. My daughters get older and ask for me when I’m not around, I travel a lot. But after the Assen race I had a few days to think about it and I talked about it with them”.
So here are his words, which confirm what Motorsport.com anticipated: “So, for the next season, in 2024, I’ll still be here, I’ll continue racing with the Aruba team, I’ll stay in the racing world. I am very happy with this, at the moment my family and I have decided that this is what we want to do. Let’s keep working, I think I still have room for improvement and this is my decision: I’ll race again next year”.
Alvaro Bautista, Aruba.it Racing Ducati
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
“This is not an easy decision, because my family is becoming more and more important to me, but I feel I have to keep racing. I feel strong, I have fun and it’s good for everyone. The team trusts me, I have a lot of experience but we can continue to have fun and get results. I thank all my team and my family. Without them it would not be possible to stay here, my wife in particular supports me in my training at home, she looks after the girls… it is important for me ”, she explains.
As for the extension of the contract, the reigning world champion claims he wants to choose the annual renewal formula to motivate himself even more: “I prefer to do it year by year, also because it’s more motivating for me. If you have a multi-year maybe you can relax more, but instead I give my best because the following year I have to earn it on the track”.
#SBK #Official #Bautista #Ducati