WorldSBK’s 2022 season saw the dominant duo of Ducati and Alvaro Bautista team up once more with victory firmly in their sights this time around but was he your BSN WorldSBK Rider of the Year?
16 victories and 31 podiums from 36 races confirmed Bautista was in a class of his own in 2022. The Spaniard secured the title by 72 points from outgoing champion Toprak Razgatlioglu while KRT’s Jonathan Rea had to settle for third, a further 27 back.
The ‘Big Three’ had been almost unstoppable across the year but Michael Rinaldi, Andrea Locatelli, Alex Lowes, Axel Bassani, Scott Redding, Iker Lecuona and Garrett Gerloff all managed to muscle their way to appearances on the production class podium. The leading trio’s teammates completed the season’s top six in the same order as their captains with Bassani claiming the Independent crown for Motocorsa Ducati.
Redding got to grips with the BMW after a challenging departure from Ducati while Eugene Laverty bowed out, in dramatic style, after a 16-year career in world championship racing - as the Irishman steps up to team ownership for 2023. Brits Leon Haslam and Kyle Smith were drafted in at Pedercini Kawasaki, Honda’s rookies began to shine and Michael van der Mark returned from an injury-plagued start to the season.
After three flyaway rounds and a somewhat wintry return to Australia completing the calendar, who was your BSN WorldSBK rider of 2022?
