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As the preparations for the 2022 MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship progress, the figure of Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) has been accumulating credit as one of the candidates to fight from the beginning for the 2022 title. This year will be his first time on the Ducati Panigale V4 R since his impressive rookie campaign and, now with more WorldSBK experience under his belt, could 2022 be Bautista’s year?

Perhaps the Spanish rider already had the status of title contender since his return to the factory Ducati team was announced, at least theoretically. They are, after all, the rider and team combination that took the Championship by storm at the start of the 2019 season with 11 consecutive victories that put a target on their back. Now, after four successful tests and facing the final stretch of the preseason, everything points to Bautista being a contender in 2022.

It’s not a secret that the journey the Spanish rider undertook in the last two campaigns was not as satisfactory as expected when, at the end of 2019, he surprised many by making the switch to Honda. Looking at the results, three podiums in two years and no victories, represent a meagre return for Bautista who came to WorldSBK in search of more prominence, a winning bike and, if everything added up, a world title. This will be Bautista’s objective in 2022 after tests at Jerez, Portimao, Misano and Catalunya that his feeling with the V4 R is not only maintained but improved.

“I think, with Ducati, for me the bike is more familiar,” explained Bautista during preseason. “It’s more natural to ride. I can ride with my instinct. With Honda, I had to change my riding style a little bit because I had to use the strong points of that bike. With Ducati, it’s completely different because I can ride more in my style. It’s more corner speed, less hard braking. It’s just more natural for me, I don’t have to force my riding. After my first test back with Ducati, I think I changed everything again! I think, for me, it was easier to change my riding style in two days with Ducati than two years with Honda because now it feels more natural, more familiar and easier to ride.”

During the Misano test, where the rider from Talavera de la Reina led the timesheets on both days, said: “Honestly, compared to the bike I left three years ago, it has improved. It is not much faster, but it is more balanced, and the weak points have improved.”

If the bike has improved, especially after the changes and technical innovations introduced during the preseason, the rider who must now ride it is not the same either. Bautista has returned to the official team with much more experience of competing in WorldSBK and has been seasoned by the difficulties he has overcome during the adventure of his last two seasons: “I think now I have more experience in this Championship. I know more about the tyres, the races, the circuits. I have learned a lot in the last two seasons because I have tried to get the most out of all situations, now I feel like a more experienced rider.”

At Ducati, they are very aware the Championship has also evolved and that the competition is increasingly fierce as the General Manager of Ducati Corse, Gigi Dall’Igna underlined at the team’s presentation. All manufacturers have been reinforced before the new campaign by pouring more resources and technology into their bikes. That is the challenge and the great question facing the Italian manufacturer, with Bautista and teammate Michael Ruben Rinaldi as spearheads. In Ducati’s imagination is the long-awaited return of the world crown to Borgo Panigale, a success they have pursued since Carlos Checa won their last Riders’ title in 2011 at the age of 39. Bautista, at 37, has given himself a second chance to emulate his compatriot, and his new assault on the title will be another of the great attractions of the season that is about to begin.

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