With Thursday at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya in full swing for the MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship’s first of two visits to Spain this year, all eyes are on Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) after his future was confirmed with a contract to cover the 2024 season with Ducati in WorldSBK. Bautista has been speaking for the first time since his future was confirmed on Thursday and he revealed his thoughts on having everything in place.

IMMEDIATE THOUGHTS: family time, taking the decision…

Bautista has enjoyed a very strong start to the 2023 season with eight wins from nine races and he holds a 56-point lead over Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK) in second place. However, at Assen, Bautista was asked about his future and, on Thursday in the Netherlands, said his future was unclear. On Friday, he elaborated further by explaining that he had two choices for 2024 which were that he would like to stay with Ducati, or he spends more time with his family.

Discussing his new contract, and his family’s role in deciding to sign for 2024, Bautista said: “I’m so happy to keep racing with Ducati for 2024. 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.”

TESTING AND WILDCARDING: a potential, but brief, MotoGP™ return on the cards?

The reigning Champion competed in MotoGP™ between 2010 and 2018 before making the switch to Ducati. He rode for four different manufacturers in that team, but his last two seasons were spent with Ducati in 2017 and 2018 with a best finish of fourth place in those two seasons. In his whole MotoGP™ career, Bautista scored three podiums and he took a best Championship finish of fifth place in 2012. Bautista will get a chance to return to a MotoGP™ bike soon as part of a prize for winning the WorldSBK title last year.

Bautista addressed a potential MotoGP™ test and wildcard, saying: “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.”

THE FUTURE BEYOND 2024: what is Bautista thinking right now?

After talking about his family more when discussing his future and revealing that he spoke to them when making the decision to continue with them in 2024, Bautista was asked whether 2024 could be his last contract. He said: “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.”

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