In about a week and a half, Álvaro Bautista returns to the MotoGP paddock as a wildcard for Ducati in the Malaysian GP. It’s a kind of reward for his Superbike World Championship titles, and the rider doesn’t feel pressured to achieve good results in this participation.
In an interview with the newspaper AS, the Spanish rider explained that the main goal is to enjoy the experience: ‘The goal is to enjoy this wildcard. That’s why I chose Sepang, because for Ducati it would have been easier to do Valencia, due to proximity. But Cheste is a smaller circuit and you don’t enjoy MotoGP as much. I think I wouldn’t enjoy it there. So, I chose Malaysia, a big circuit that I like, and I have more chances to enjoy. Many people tell me, “look at Dani [Pedrosa], who was fighting for the podium…”’.
However, Bautista clarified that he does not see himself as a podium candidate in Sepang: ‘Dani has many more kilometers than me with the MotoGP, he did many tests in Misano and the situation is different. At most, I have more race pace, which is what he lacked to get on the podium. To do it, I emphasize, he was fighting. They are two different situations and the results he achieved do not put pressure on me or take it away‘.
