Álvaro Bautista is currently in the final year of his contract with Aruba.it Ducati in the World Superbike Championship, and his future remains uncertain. At 39 years old, Bautista’s age is unusual for a rider competing at the highest level, and renewing his contract would mean he will race until nearly 41.
His manager, Simone Battistella, spoke to GPOne.com about the possibility of a contract renewal, asserting that any other scenario wouldn’t make sense for either the rider or the team:
– At the moment, Álvaro feels in great shape, he is fully motivated psychologically, and he wants to face this challenging period as he has done in the past. For a rider like him, it doesn’t make sense to stop, and for Ducati, it doesn’t make sense to lose a double world champion. So, in my opinion, it’s right to continue.
Battistella explained that Bautista and Aruba.it Ducati have always reached agreements easily and reiterated that there seem to be no reasons not to continue: ‘There are two aspects: one is the rider’s self-assessment, calculating his expectations, and then there is the team’s assessment of the rider. Of course, these two aspects are never the same in economic terms [laughs]. But in the last two years, there has always been harmony between Álvaro and Aruba, the relationship is very good, so there is no reason not to continue’.
The introduction of the minimum weight rule for the combined bike and rider has particularly disadvantaged Bautista, who is the lightest rider in the field. The 2022 and 2023 champion has faced a more challenging season this year and is currently third in the standings, behind Toprak Razgatlioglu (ROKiT BMW) and his teammate Nicolò Bulega.