Álvaro Bautista was unable to secure his third Superbike World Championship title. After his triumphs in 2022 and 2023, the rider was once again the favorite this year, particularly given his dominance in previous seasons.
However, the challenges were significant, and the Aruba.it Ducati rider quickly fell out of contention for the title. The introduction of the mandatory minimum combined weight for the bike and rider was one reason for the performance drop, though not the only one.
In an interview with GPOne.com, Bautista acknowledged that he himself lost ground in certain areas, while the level of competition in WSBK increased:
– As we know, there were some technical changes in 2024. The Panigale gained something while I lost in other areas. Certainly, the level of the category increased, also thanks to the super concessions, which were very well utilized by Toprak [Razgatlioglu] and BMW.
In his first year with BMW, Razgatlioglu was the standout performer, setting new records for consecutive wins on his way to the championship. He beat Nicolò Bulega (Aruba.it Ducati), while Bautista finished third.