It wasn’t an easy story between Ducati and Alvaro Bautista, but in the end the turbulent marriage between the Bolognese manufacturer and the rider from Talavera de la Reina blossomed in the best possible way. Upon his return astride the Panigale V4, a bike that he had left in a whirlwind of controversy at the end of 2019, the Spaniard managed to break the more than ten-year fasting of the Bolognese brand, which in serial derivatives he hadn’t won since 2011. Alvaro’s career wasn’t particularly linear either: after four seasons at the top in the 125 and 250 (and a world title in the eighth-litre class, in 2006) Bautista found himself suffering the most in MotoGP, a category that would never have seen him consecrate himself among the top riders. Between immature bikes, faded opportunities and a few mistakes too many, in his long militancy in the Premier Class the Spaniard would still have collected a 5th and a 6th place finish between 2012 and 2013, but it is clear Alvaro’s goal was not to act as a supporting actor. The opportunity to do a “reset”, beneficial for the head and the “throttle”, came with the transition to Superbike, in 2019: riding the brand new Italian four-cylinder Bautista became the star of the first half of the season, annihilating the competition . Then the idyll broke down, and on the 19th he ended up in the arms of Honda for the following two seasons, not particularly lucky ones. The rest is recent history, known facts that have the color of the iris. But what are the things you may not know – or simply don’t remember – about the new King of SBK? Here is a series of anecdotes and curiosities about the Spanish rider, who was crowned World Champion again exactly twenty years after his debut in the 125 class.
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