The current leader of the 2022 Superbike World Championship, Alvaro Bautista, will race the factory-backed Desmosedici GP12 in Sepang on November 23 in the colors of Aruba.it, title sponsor of the Ducati WSBK team.
This will be the 38-year-old Spaniard's first grand prix since the end of the 2018 season, when he switched to Superbike with Ducati.
Bautista conducted two tests with the previous year's GP22 in Misano, one in June and the other last week.
Ducati has agreed to take Bautista into a MotoGP race as a tribute to last year's Superbike championship success. Bautista's success was the brand's first drivers' title in more than a decade.
Bautista is believed to be putting pressure on Ducati to race at one of his favorite circuits, Sepang, instead of the season finale in Valencia, which was Ducati's first choice due to cost.
"I'm really happy to be able to race as wildcard in MotoGP at Sepang, a circuit that I really love and I'm happy to be back because it's not on the WorldSBK calendar," Bautista said. said.
“My tests with the Ducati Desmosedici GP gave positive feedback: the feeling was good and I had fun. I would like to sincerely thank Ducati and Aruba.it because without them this opportunity would have been impossible.”
"Same zamAt this moment, I would like to say that this MotoGP race will be a bonus for me and not a priority. So we have to focus on the only thing that matters right now, the Superbike championship.”
“I want to focus on this last part of the season, it will be very tough and there will be many races in a short time. My feelings about the Panigale V4R are good and I hope to continue on this path. When the season is over, we will consider going to Malaysia and having fun.” said.
Bautista is on his way to defending the WSBK crown he won last year and is 74 points ahead of his closest championship rival Toprak Razgatlıoğlu in the remaining four legs.
The Sepang race will take place two weeks after the WSBK season concludes in Jerez.
