Chosen by Ducati to replace Jorge Lorenzo at Phillip Island, Álvaro Bautista, although a newbie with the GP 18, did very well by finishing 4th just 2,2 seconds behind Andrea Dovizioso despite a slight problem with the selector.
Meanwhile, Danilo Petrucci, who had taken the lead of the race at the first corner, lost it at the second following a kick from the same GP 18 and finished the race in a very modest 12th position, 35 seconds behind the winner.
Suddenly, and like Alvaro Bautista had already finished ahead of Danilo Petrucci in Thailand and Japan, a controversy gradually intensified in the Spanish media, judging that the Iberian driver was much more legitimate than the Italian to replace Jorge Lorenzo on the official Ducati next year, instead of being ousted from MotoGP, as is currently the case.
Alvaro Bautista himself calms things down: “I love riding motorcycles and if I can win, I win. Any time I have a competitive bike somewhere, I'm going to enjoy it. Here's what I said, I don't have an official bike and it's very complicated, but this weekend I had the opportunity to take an official Ducati and, in a few laps, I was able to fight with the best riders and that means the bike also has a lot of importance, so going to Superbike with an official Ducati motivates me even more now, because I know their potential and their abilities and I'm really happy because I know that I will have leaves the weapons to fight and achieve good results.”
And when it is pointed out to him that his current performances would well deserve that he continue in MotoGP instead of going to Superbike, the person concerned kicks in…
“Go tell Carmelo (Ezpeleta), don’t tell me (smiles).”
Same attitude at Andrea Dovizioso this morning, during the opening press conference of the Malaysian Grand Prix where the subject was raised by a Spanish journalist.
Andrea Dovizioso : “If I think about next year, I don’t think about beating as a teammate. I think for sure there will be Marc and other very good drivers to think about the championship. For next year there is a contract, so I don't know why we should talk about different names. I can not say anything. It’s not my job.”
Intelligently, the Ducati rider did not want to get into the controversy, even while defending Danilo Petrucci who scored 137 points this year, compared to 96 for Álvaro Bautista.
Photo credit : MotoGP.com
