With a three-weekend gap between rounds in the MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship, Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) is using his time to test the Desmosedici GP machine at the Misano World Circuit “Marco Simoncelli”. The test has been considered a prize for Bautista’s incredible 2022 title success but key figures from Ducati, including Bautista, have been speaking about the possibility of a wildcard.
The Aruba.it Racing squad have wildcarded in MotoGP™ in 2022 and 2023 when they’ve raced with Michele Pirro, Ducati’s test rider. His most recent wildcard outing was at Mugello where he finished in 15th place in the Sprint and 16th in the Grand Prix. While the second half of the WorldSBK season ends in Argentina in mid-October, there are still five MotoGP™ rounds after that where there could be a potential race for Bautista.
Speaking during the test, there was no confirmation about a wildcard happening for Bautista but there was also no denial. Both Gigi Dall’Igna, Ducati Corse General Manager, and Marco Zambenedetti, Ducati Corse Technical Coordinator, spoke about the possibility and both reiterated that WorldSBK was the main focus for the reigning Champion.
Zambenedetti, when asked about a wildcard, said: “First of all, everything depends on the feeling that Bautista has. The main goal is for him is WorldSBK to keep the number 1 on the fairing. Nobody knows. At the end of the Championship, if there is the time, we will see.”
Dall’Igna added: “It’s honestly too early to know. The season is really long, and we will probably arrive at the end really exhausted. We will see. This is not our target at the moment. For sure, I think that he could do quite well with the bike but honestly, I don’t want to think too much about that. I would like to see him smiling when he jumps off the bike and that’s it.”
Bautista was also asked about the possibility and, while he also did not confirm whether he would get a second MotoGP™ test or a wildcard outing, he did reveal his preference for where it took place if he had to make a choice. Like Dall’Igna and Zambenedetti, Bautista was focusing on his WorldSBK title defence but did explain his preference and why he would like to race there.
Bautista said: “At the moment, doing a wildcard is not in my plans. I did a test. Now we have to be focused on the next three rounds because they are very close, and we need to be concentrating on them. We’ll see. I don’t know if maybe Ducati will ask me to do another test or not but, at the moment, there aren’t any plans for the future. After our Championship finishes, there are a lot of races for MotoGP™. At this moment, I’m not thinking about a wildcard. If you tell me you have to do one wildcard, which track would you like to race… maybe Sepang is a good track. I like it and there are long straights.”
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Source: WorldSBK.com