Alvaro Bautista will be back on a Ducati MotoGP bike next week as he gets a two day test on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Alvaro Bautista was rewarded with a MotoGP test by Ducati for winning the WorldSBK title last season and the dates for his test have finally been confirmed. The Spaniard will be back on a MotoGP machine on the 20th and 21st of June, during the WorldSBK break before Donington Park.
The test will take place at the ground of Bautista's most recent WorldSBK triumph, the Misano World Circuit “Marco Simoncelli”. Only two weeks ago Bautista claimed a hat trick of wins around the Italian circuit and now he will return on a MotoGP bike.
Many people have questioned whether this test will be to setup for Bautista to return to MotoGP as a wildcard. However, in a recent interview on WorldSBK.com Bautista discussed the chances of a wildcard in MotoGP.
“After I won the World Championship in WorldSBK, I asked Ducati to have a test with the MotoGP™ bike because, from the outside, it seems like a really fun bike.
"We will do the test very soon. I don’t do the test with an intention to do a wildcard. I’d like to do the test and let’s see what happens.
"I don’t think there’s a lot of chance to repeat what Troy Bayliss did in 2006. It was another time and it was different. At the moment, in my mind, it’s only the World Superbike Championship. I just take the test like a prize and don’t think about Troy Bayliss.”
Bautista mentions Bayliss' wildcard in 2006, where the Australian won the Valencian Grand Prix at the end of the season as a wildcard for Ducati. It is clear that from Bautista's side he has no ambition to do a MotoGP wildcard, as of yet, and wants to treat the test as a bit of fun.
