HRC bids farewell as Aruba.it Ducati welcome Alvaro Bautista back into the Bologna fold ahead of WorldSBK’s 2022 championship challenge.
Bautista, last seen aboard the Panigale in 2019, returns to the Italian brand after a disappointing two year run with the Honda Fireblade - recording a solo podium in Aragon last year.
With the ‘constructive collaboration’ marred by the pandemic in the new project’s fledgling years, the Spaniard demonstrated flashes of brilliance, including a run at the front in Barcelona, but was ultimately left wanting more. He currently sits 11th in the standings after seven rounds of 2021.
The 2006 125cc World Champion and ex-MotoGP rider returns to Ducati in a bid to repeat and build on his debut season’s success, having scored 24 podiums with the V4R, 16 of which on the top step, on his way to second in the title fight.
Bautista replaces the outgoing, and BMW-bound, Scott Redding in the Factory Ducati squad next season, after an impressive run for the Englishman. Repeatedly challenging Jonathan Rea during his two years in red with, at least, four rounds left on this year’s calendar.
