No real surprise but confirmed... Alvaro Bautista signs one-year WorldSBK extension with Ducati | World Superbikes | Crash Alvaro Bautista has re-signed with Ducati to race in the 2025 World Superbike Championship. The two-times World Superbike Champion will continue in Ducati's factory team for at least another year, ending speculation over his potential retirement. The announcement was made in the lead up to this weekend’s WorldSBK French Round, round eight of the 2024 season. Bautista won both his World Superbike titles with Ducati, in 2022 and again in 2023. Currently, the Spanish rider is sitting third in the 2024 riders’ standings, having come into the season while still recovering his fitness after a back injury sustained at the end of 2023 while testing a Ducati Desmosedici MotoGP bike in preparation for his wildcard at the Malaysian Grand Prix. Bautista currently sits 142 points behind Toprak Razgatlioglu, and 50 points behind his rookie teammate Nicolo Bulega, having gone winless since the Superpole Race at the Dutch Round.
Life comes at you fast etc.. https://www.crash.net/wsbk/news/107...a-labels-worldsbk-weight-rules-discrimination
Yeah slapping the weight penalty on him has really dampened his performance. He has all the potential of Bulega but is dragging around a few unneccessary kilos of dead weight as a consequence. I don't think it's evened the playing field at all, it's just made him uncompetitive. Way to go FIM and Dorna, you certainly know how to f*ck up a championship when you see one.
