At 39, Álvaro Bautista doesn’t shy away when asked who is the main candidate to win this edition of the World Superbike Championship.
Speaking to Sport newspaper, the rider began to address the need to be on a good level and how he needs to focus on what he himself has to do to make it happen: ‘It’s not something that keeps me awake, because in the end, the results are the consequence of doing your job well. If you focus on one result, you forget about the others. What has worked for me and what I like to focus on every day is trying to improve every detail, to be a better rider and to enjoy every moment as much as possible, every training session, every conversation with the team and the technicians, and I think that’s building up. I’m not worried about the title, there are many circumstances that could interfere. I work to be a little better every day and if the results come my way, even better. If not, I’ll keep doing the same thing every morning, whether I win or not’.
This season, the competition will be fierce for the Spaniard, with names like Jonathan Rea or Toprak Razgatlıoğlu to promise to give the Ducati rider a lot to do, but it’s not just them who will be in the reckoning for the title:
– They’re two great opponents, Jonathan Rea and Toprak Razgatlıoğlu have changed teams. Ever since I started in Superbikes, I’ve always seen Rea in green and on a Kawasaki. Changing brands and having to adapt to a new bike is always complicated, but the quality is there. I think they’re both going to keep up the level and fight for the top spots. Not just the two of them, I think my colleague Nicolò Bulega has also come back strongly from the World Supersport Championship. Also surprising everyone is Andrea Iannone, who after four years out of action due to suspension is being very competitive. I don’t think there will be three of us this year, we’ll have more riders fighting for wins and that’s good for the championship,’ said the Aruba.it Ducati man, who still doesn’t know if this will be his last season as a rider at the highest level.
‘No. Whether I win or lose, that won’t determine my future. Today, the main objective is to reach my best level of confidence with the bike, as I have had in recent years. From there, we’ll see what we can aspire to. And depending on how I get on with the bike and the team, I’ll make a decision’ he emphasised.