Ducati: ‘People forget that Bautista won a world title, was top five in MotoGP’

Bautista sealed his fourth WorldSBK double of the season last weekend in San Juan, after winning both feature races. 

It means the Spaniard, who leads the WorldSBK standings by 82 points over Toprak Razgatlioglu, could seal the 2022 title during Race One at Mnadalika next weekend if he outscores the Yamaha rider by more then 17 points and Jonathan Rea by one point. 

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But even though the title may appear close, which was also true heading into last Sunday’s double-header after Razgatlioglu crashed and finished 15th in Race One, Bautista has so far not let his mind wander according to Foti.

"A really perfect weekend," the Italian told WorldSBK.com. "Alvaro and the team were really perfect, I want to thank them because when you leave Europe, you never know what you're going to find. 

"Everyone was very focused; they did a great job. Now we will enjoy these two victories, we will go back to Italy and then we will prepare for the last two rounds. We are very optimistic, but we will not lose our concentration.” 

"Even this weekend, Alvaro only thought race by race without thinking about the championship. He has had this approach since the beginning of the year." 

Does Bautista deserve more respect for WorldSBK achievements? 

Throughout the season Bautista’s straight-line speed abaord his Panigale V4 R has been a hot topic of discussion, and for good reason as it gave him visible advantages in places such as Catalunya and Portimao.

However, Bautista has won at various tracks that were viewed as more favourable to the likes of Razgatlioglu and Rea, with Donington Park being the only circuit he’s failed to take at least one win at. 

Other Ducati riders have also had speed advantages on the straights but so far failed to deliver the same results, which points to Bautista being the difference.

Speaking about just how good he is, Foti used examples of Bautista from when he was racing in MotoGP.

"He is a really good rider and some people forget that he won a world title in 125cc, he fought with Marco Simoncelli in 250cc and, in MotoGP, in the days of Valentino Rossi, Dani Pedrosa, Jorge Lorenzo and Casey Stoner, he was a top five rider. He is a super rider," added Foti.