Cycle News Staff | May 5, 2023
Alvaro Bautista to continue aboard the factory Panigale V4R of the Aruba.it Racing-Ducati team in the 2024 WorldSBK season.
This is a press release from Ducati…
Photos Courtesy of Ducati
(May 3, 2023) The Aruba.it Racing-Ducati team is pleased to announce the contract extension of Alvaro Bautista who will be riding the official Ducati Panigale V4R also in the 2024 WorldSBK season.
Returning to wear the colors of Aruba.it and Ducati in the 2022 season after his WorldSBK debut in 2019, Alvaro Bautista was crowned World Champion last year at the end of an exciting ride made up of 16 wins and 31 total podiums.
After the first three rounds of the 2023 season, Bautista is firmly leading the standings with 174 points (56 ahead of his closest rival), and a few days ago, at the Assen circuit (Holland), he was the absolute protagonist with the hat-trick that gave Ducati its historic 400th WorldSBK victory.
Alvaro Bautista with Stefano Cecconi and Gigi Dall’Igna
Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati #1)
“After 21 years spent in the elite of world motorcycling, in the paddocks of MotoGP and Superbike, I now feel in excellent shape, both physically and mentally. I can say that I am in the best moment of my career: I have a lot of fun riding the bike and I have the pleasure of working with a team that I consider a second family. By the way, on a personal level, my family is getting bigger, and the babies are growing up and that is why the decision to race in 2024 was a choice I wanted to make together with them. We decided to continue and I’m very happy to stay with the Aruba.it Racing-Ducati team with whom I’ve always had a wonderful relationship. I am happy that they still want me, even though I am a little old. One more year together, with the hope of keeping the fantastic feeling with the bike, the certainty of an extraordinary working relationship, and, of course, the goal of aiming at great results”
Alvaro Bautista and Stefano Cecconi
Alvaro Bautista and Stefano Cecconi
Stefano Cecconi (Team Principal Aruba.it Racing – Ducati)
“We are extremely happy to have extended our relationship with Alvaro and it will be a pleasure to continue a collaboration that has always been excellent both on a professional and human level. Alvaro has brought our team the first great success, the one we have been chasing since 2015, when we decided to embark on this fascinating adventure with Ducati; but instead of giving us only satisfaction, this success is spurring us to do even more. The determination and commitment that have allowed us to achieve this target have also ensured excellent results in the first 3 rounds of the current season: our common goal is, therefore, to continue in this direction in order to achieve other important successes together in the future.”
Alvaro Bautista with – Gigi Dall’Igna and Paolo Ciabatti
Luigi Dall’Igna (General Manager Ducati Corse)
“The world title win, but also the sensational start to the season that we have witnessed this year, are yet another demonstration of the magical moment that Bautista is going through. Alvaro is a very talented and experienced rider and with our Panigale V4 R, he has found a fantastic balance that currently allows him to make a real difference. We are therefore very happy to be able to continue with him in 2024. Now the goal is to stay focused on the current season and try to maintain this positive trend in the future as well.”
In an interview posted by WorldSBK, Bautista says that he is happy to continue with Ducati, but says that it was not an easy decision.
“I’m so happy to keep racing with Ducati for 2024,” Bautista said. “It wasn’t an easy decision, because I feel like I’m in one of my best moments in my whole career. I’m enjoying riding the bike a lot and also with the team and the results are really nice. But, in my personal life, with my two daughters getting older, the family is more and more important each day. It was not easy but, together we came to a decision to continue racing for at least one more year and try to keep this feeling and fun with the bike.”
Bautista competed in MotoGP between 2010 and 2018 before making the switch to Ducati. When asked about a potential MotoGP test and wildcard, he said, “I asked Ducati to have a MotoGP test, but like a prize after winning the Championship last year. For sure, we will do it. I don’t know exactly when, but it will be very soon, before the summer break. There is no intention in our mind, just to do the test and enjoy the bike. What I see on TV, many riders can go fast with that bike so I’m curious to ride the bike. It’s five years since I rode a MotoGP bike and to remember the feeling of riding the MotoGP bike.”
When questioned if the 2024 agreement could be his last contract, he said he intends to just go year by year. “I don’t know. In 2022, I signed for one year for 2023 and now one year for 2024. I just go year by year. In the moment I decide to stop, we will decide, but I don’t have any intention to know how many years I can be here. It’s just in the moment. What I want is to keep racing.”
