Martin: “Difficult to expect big result” from Bautista, “level so high”

The two-time WorldSBK champion is returning to MotoGP for the first time since 2018 with a wildcard appearance at this weekend’s Malaysian round.

Bautista, who clinched his second Superbike title with 27 wins, will be expected to perform well given his domination of the WorldSBK championship.

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But with that said, MotoGP is considerably more competitive than WorldSBK and thus delivering the same type of results as fellow wildcard Dani Pedrosa - the current KTM test rider scored points in all four races at Jerez and Misano - will be a big challenge.

That’s especially true as Bautista has very little experience with current MotoGP machinery, although he was fast when he jumped aboard the factory Ducati at Misano earlier this year during a private test.

In terms of what to expect from Bautista, Bagnaia believes top ten results would be a very good achievement.

Bagnaia said: “It’ll be nice for him to ride with us and our bike. Our bike is incredibly fast, it’s an incredible bike for braking and everything. 

“He will enjoy it a lot. I think, if he finishes in the top ten, he could be very happy.”

Bagnaia’s title rival Martin also expects Bautista to go well at Sepang, but admits ‘we need to wait and see’ when discussing what result people should expect. 

Martin added: “It’s difficult for me to expect some kind of [big] result. We need to wait to see him. I think he had a great test at Misano. We know he’s a fast rider. 

“He has some good points on the straight here, but the level is so high. We need to understand tomorrow but I hope he can be competitive.”