Alvaro Bautista arrived in WSBK in 2019 through a Ducati factory which he returned to this season after a two-year break with Honda. During the last round of the category, he gave his employer the 1th podium in this paddock which he can now compare to the one he experienced at the start of his career. Arriving more or less backwards, because without an option in MotoGP, the one who can claim to succeed Carlos Checa for the title of World Champion with Ducati, which would be a first since 000, is today a convinced of the environment of which he promotes.
Alvaro Bautista has all the cards in hand this year to make it happen in a World Superbike where he would at the same time give Ducati on the roof of the world. The brand has been waiting for this since 2011 and its compatriot Carlos Checa. But it would be a first for the Panigale V4R. The fact remains that this crown will always be less glittering with the public than that of MotoGP. And for Baptist, there is a sort of injustice in this degraded consideration which begins with the error of wanting to compare these two worlds of motorcycle speed.
Alvaro Bautista: “it's just different, but at a very high level"
Public chat speedweek, he analyzes as follows: “ the Superbike World Championship is seen as a second league, and before moving there, I thought so too “, admitted the 37-year-old pilot. “ But you can't compare it to MotoGP and the riders aren't any worse either. In fact, some MotoGP riders came here and did nothing” He recalls.
The official Ducati continues: " it's a completely different championship, more and more people follow it. The atmosphere is fantastic and I recommend motorcycle fans to attend a race ". And he ends: “ the series is not as popular but people need to understand that it is not worse than MotoGP. It's just different, but at a very high level ". And that's important enough for a manufacturer like Ducati to proudly claim the 1 podiums that he has now acquired since last weekend's meeting in Most.
En 35 years of the Superbike World Championship, Ducati won 383 victories and 1 000 podiums.
Ducati won 14 Superbike rider titles and 17 manufacturer titles.
1990 851 Raymond Roche
1991 888 Doug Pollen
1992 888 Doug Pollen
1994 916 Carl Fogarty
1995 916 Carl Fogarty
1996 916 Troy Corser
1998 916 Carl Fogarty
1999 996 Carl Fogarty
2001 996R Troy Bayliss
2003 999F03 Neil Hodgson
2004 999F04 James Tosland
2006 999F06 Troy Bayliss
2008 1098 F08 Troy Bayliss
2011 1198 F11 Calos Checa
- The most successful Ducati Superbike riders are Carl Fogarty (55 victories), Troy bayliss (52) and Chaz Davies (28)
- The most successful motorcycle is the 916/996/998 with 122 victories, followed by the 851/888 with 78 achievements and the Panigale/Panigale V4 with 70 realizations.
