Spain’s Alvaro Bautista had made history by completing the dream double for Ducati, the factory winning both the MotoGP and World Superbike Championship (WSBK) crowns in the same season.
It is for the first time that the Bologna factory has clinched the MotoGP and WSBK titles in the same year, Bautista wrapping up the WSBK title at the Mandalika Circuit in Indonesia at the weekend.
Bautista eventually came out on top after a spellbinding year fighting week in, week out with Yamaha’s 2021 World Champion, Toprak Razgatlioglu, and Kawasaki’s six-time King, Jonathan Rea.
The 2006 125cc World Champion becomes only the third rider to win a Grand Prix World Championship and then go on to claim the WorldSBK crown after John Kocinski, 1990 250cc World Champion and 1997 World Superbike Champion, and Max Biaggi, four-time 250cc World Champion and two-time World Superbike Champion.
But it’s the success for Ducati that has Ducati Corse General Manager Gigi Dall’Igna grinning from ear to ear.
After a 15-year wait ended in Valencia, Ducati’s 11-year wait for a WSBK crown came to an end in Indonesia.
It means the Bologna brand have won both top level titles in the same year for the first time, making them the third in history after Honda in 1989, 1997 & 2002 and Yamaha in 2009 & 2021.
“Honestly, it has been an unbelievable season,” said Dall’Igna. “I’m so happy for everyone at Ducati Corse who have worked so well, not only this year but for the past few years. They’ve deserved these titles maybe a few years ago but, in the end, we’re so happy with the job we’ve done in MotoGP and World Superbikes in 2022.
“It’s important to build a good bike but the most important thing is to win. That’s why we’re here. In the end, if you don’t win then you’re a loser.”
For something slightly more alternative, you can check out the 10 facts you probably didn’t know about Bautista here:
1000 – At Most in Race 1, Alvaro Bautista wrapped up Ducati’s 1000th podium place in WSBK, taking his first win at the Autodrom Most.
1000 – With his Race 2 win in Argentina in October, Bautista surpassed the 1000 points mark for his time at Ducati, becoming the 11th rider to score a minimum of 1000 points for the manufacturer.
216 – Bautista has led 216 laps in 2022, but it’s not the most. Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha with Brixx WSBK) has led 225.
553 – Bautista’s points tally is 553; 47 more and he’ll become the first Ducati rider in WSBK history to hit the 600 mark. The all-time World Championship record is 663 by Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WSBK), already unreachable in 2022 for Bautista. However, he’s just 11 points behind Toprak Razgatlioglu’s (Pata Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK) 2021 tally.
130 – In his 130th WSBK race start, Bautista took his first crown. Six other riders achieved their first title after their 100th start, with Jonathan Rea having to wait the longest, clinching the 2015 crown in his 161st start.
53 – Surpassing Pierfrancesco Chili’s 43 Ducati podiums in Barcelona’s Superpole Race, Bautista has 53 Ducati rostrums, placing him sixth overall in the manufacturer’s all-time ranking.
30 – With 30 wins so far in WSBK, of which 14 have come in 2022, Bautista is now just one shy of Colin Edwards’ 31.
30 – All of Bautista’s 30 wins have come for Ducati, the third rider to achieve that many for the Bologna manufacturer after Carl Fogarty on 55 and Troy Bayliss on 52. He’s two ahead of Ducati’s 2022 rider coach and triple runner-up Chaz Davies.
29 – Bautista needs just one podium to become the second rider in history with at least 30 in a season. He has 29 now: Jonathan Rea took 34 in 2019 and 30 in 2021. 29 podiums in a season is already a record for a Ducati rider.
19 – The #19 becomes the 19th different WSBK Champion.
18 – For the 18th time in history, the World Champion didn’t win the season opener. This year Bautista took his first season win at the second race, the Superpole Race at Aragon. It is the fifth consecutive year this has happened, with season openers being won by: Marco Melandri in 2018, Alvaro Bautista in 2019, Toprak Razgatlioglu in 2020, Jonathan Rea in 2021 and 2022.
16 – The wait between Bautista’s two World Championship is 16 years: this is the longest wait between a first and second World Championship in the history of FIM Solo Road Racing World Championships. His title in 2006 was in the 125cc World Championship.
11/2 – Bautista ends Ducati’s 11 year wait for a Champion in WSBK, the first since Carlos Checa in 2011. He thus becomes just the second Spaniard to win a WSBK title
9 – Bautista is the ninth rider to win a Championship for Ducati, giving them a 15th Riders’ title.
5 – Bautista becomes the fifth rider to achieve the WSBK title with one pole or less; the last time someone clinched the title with just one pole was Max Biaggi in 2012. Astonishingly, three WSBK Champions have taken the title without poles: Fred Merkel in 1988, Carl Fogarty in 1998 and James Toseland in 2004.
3 – Bautista taking the title for Ducati and for Spain is the third different rider for a third different manufacturer and country in as many years. In 2020, the UK’s Jonathan Rea won for Kawasaki, whilst 2021 saw Razgatlioglu win for Yamaha and Turkey.
2 – He is just the second rider to win the WSBK crown with the #19, after Ben Spies in 2009.
1 – For the first time in history, Ducati won both the WSBK Championship and the MotoGP Championship, courtesy of Alvaro Bautista and Francesco Bagnaia.
1 – Bautista is also the first rider to win a lightweight (125cc or Moto3) World Championship in the MotoGP paddock and then a WSBK title. The only other Champions to have taken titles in both paddocks are John Kocinski (1990 250cc World Champion) and Max Biaggi (1994 – 1997 250cc World Champion).
0.126 – So far in 2022, Bautista’s smallest winning margin has been 0.126s, when he beat Toprak Razgatlioglu at Estoril in Race 1, only leading the final lap across the line.
Photo courtesy Ducati
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