This year, the Superbike World Championship had new rules that establish a minimum weight for the bike and rider combination. Álvaro Bautista is the most negatively affected rider, as he is the lightest in the field, which has created some difficulties for him. Additionally, he has suffered some physical problems in recent months and, to make matters worse, the championship field is now full of new rivals, including young riders eager to show their abilities.
However, the champion of 2022 and 2023 is not thinking about retirement yet – quite the opposite. In an interview with PecinoGP, the Spanish rider revealed that his motivation remains high:
– Fortunately, the moment [to question why I still compete] has not arrived yet. I don’t know if it’s because of all the changes this year, but the internal flame has been reignited. It motivated me. I liked seeing this competition on the grid, with young riders who want to win. I still want to ride and be competitive. I have the desire and enthusiasm to continue competing.
For Bautista, WSBK became more exciting in 2024: ‘Because of all the changes that have occurred this year, both riders who switched manufacturers and the new technical regulations, or riders who came from other categories. I think that this year the grid… let’s say it looks like anarchy. Before it was me on Ducati, Toprak [Razgatlioglu] on Yamaha, Jonathan [Rea] on Kawasaki and we were kind of the three who always set the pace of the races. We knew each other well, we more or less controlled each other. We knew our strengths and weaknesses. But this year the new riders who arrived are young, they are eager to show themselves. So, we’ve seen a fight until the end in the races so far, you didn’t expect which rider could come out on top […]. I think this year everything is very open‘
