2023 is the Ducati year in the world of two wheels. It looks like the house of Borgo Panigale will celebrate the MotoGP title, conquered last Sunday by Francesco Bagnaia, and the SBK title in the same season, a championship that has two appointments left, six races, 124 points at stake, with Alvaro Bautista at the top of the general standings with 82 points over Toprak Razgatlioglu (Yamaha) and 98 over Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki).
The man from Talave spoke with AS before taking the plane to Indonesia, where he has had the title ball since the first race, on Saturday at 06:30, and he is one of those who is very happy with the title won by pecco: “I’m happy for Pecco’s title, because I’m a Ducati rider and my brand hadn’t won the drivers’ title since 2007, so this success has been very important for the brand. It means that they have worked a lot and that they have grown a lot to get to this moment. I’m very happy for Ducati, really. On Saturday I was able to stop by the circuit and experience the tense atmosphere in the box, but at the same time I realized that everything was very positive and there was very good energy”.
From that tension that he perceived in the Ducati Lenovo box, the top contender for the SBK title must now extract the best possible lesson to help him stay calm no matter what happens in Indonesia. He is clear: “Now we have two appointments to finish the SBK season and we are in a situation similar to the one Pecco found himself in this past weekend. I know it’s not easy, because Pecco has already been seen these days experiencing a kind of relaxed tension. He knew that, above all, he did not have to fail, because it was enough for him to be calm and finish the race to be champion. In our case it is different because we still have two weekends left, which are six races, with which there are many points at stake, but well, honestly, I am not going to Indonesia thinking of the championship, much less, but I want to continue working well , as we have been doing, and try to enjoy the bike as I am doing this year, because I am having a great time”.
Bautista is well aware of the difficulties that may arise in the Mandalika circuit and takes the pressure off: “Yes, it is true that Indonesia is going to be the most difficult circuit of the whole season, because I have never ridden there with the Ducati. Nobody has much experience on that track, because last year we ran very little in the dry. In addition, the track is completely paved and we do not know what we are going to find. And you will have to keep an eye on the sky, because there the weather is very changeable and a downpour can fall at any time that spoils your plans. Honestly, I’m going to see what I find, without high expectations or any set goal. You have to work as hard as possible so that I have a bike that allows me to ride as well as possible, as we have done throughout the year. I take it as one more race”.
The combinations that would make the champion in the first of the three races in Indonesia happens because he finishes in the top two and they are these:
- Bautista is champion if he finishes first and Razgatlioglu finishes eighth or worse.
- Bautista is champion if he finishes second and Razgatlioglu finishes 13th or worse.
If Bautista does not finish in the top two, the resolution of the championship will depend on what happens on Sunday in the Superpole Race (03:30 am on Sunday) and, if it does not end there, we will have to see what happens in Race 2 (6:30 a.m. Sunday).