It escaped no one's notice that Álvaro Bautista's fate seemed to be shaping up very quickly for a continuation of his career in WSBK with Honda. The Ducati factory itself had revealed the trajectory at the same time of the non-continuation of the lease of its Spaniard which it had brought into the category at the same time as its Panigale V4 R. But things are dragging. In the meantime, Johann Zarco was out of the game at KTM, which must now look for a rider. Cause and effect link? His Manager Simone Battistella puts the kibosh on it!
KTM is looking for its future rider. He will have to be seasoned to tame an RC16 which has worn out the patience of Johann zarco. At this stage of the season, there is not a plethora of candidates who present a sufficiently strong CV for this delicate position. Alvaro Bautista, nevertheless, seems to have the profile.
The Spaniard has still not signed anything with Honda for a new project WSBK whose existence is even beginning to be doubted... It was therefore time for the manager Battistella to realign the sights… “ There is very little left to reach the final agreement. We have practically everything defined, there has only been a slowdown for reasons related to the summer break » assures the Italian who also takes care of Dovizioso and, soon, Baldassarri.
« It seems to me that everything is going in the right direction and I see no reason to think that the operation cannot be concluded in any other way than in a positive manner. ". These are his certainties. But Battistella adds: “ we have not had any contact with KTM. The only serious negotiations were made with Honda and Ducati for the Superbike ».
He ends on the subject of Ducati: “ we talked to them for a long time, but we reached a point where Álvaro was not willing to accept their demands and Ducati was not willing to accept his. So we haven't reached an agreement, these things happen ».
