WorldSBK: Alvaro Bautista officially confirmed to Ducati

Alvaro Bautista will return to Ducati for the 2022 WorldSBK season replacing Scott Redding.

Alvaro Bautista will race for the Aruba.it Ducati team for the 2022 WorldSBK campaign, returning to the team replacing Scott Redding who coincidentally replaced Bautista in the same team when he deflected to Honda in 2020.

The move comes following two tough seasons on the Honda which still is yet to be competitive enough to fight for consistent victories and podiums in the class, with Redding off to BMW the team needed an experienced veteran to take his place and given Bautista’s previous experience with the team there really is no better man for the job.

He made his WorldSBK debut for the team in 2019 following from a stellar Grand Prix career that saw him win 16 races in the 125cc and 250cc classes with 49 podiums to his name in all three 125cc, 250cc, and MotoGP classes alongside the 2006 125cc championship.

In 2019 he made the switch to the production-based WorldSBK championship and won 11 consecutive races, finishing the season in P2 overall with 16 victories in 24 races after some crashes and poor form saw him dip following a rev decrease.

He now returns in 2022 to finish off the job and battle for the championship once again.

Featured image – Ducati