Alvaro Bautista He did not have his easiest season in this 2024 season. The Spanish driver started favorite to revalidate his title of the Superbike World Cupbut this year things have already started badly because the controversy over the minimum weight, a rule of which he was the main victim and which forced him to introduce more ballast than the rest of the drivers on the grid of the championship of motorcycles derived from those of production.
To top it all off, the Ducati Panigale V4 R has ceased to be the WorldSBK benchmark, in favor of a BMW driven by an excellent Toprak Razgatlioğluwho won his second world title in devastating fashion, only hampered by injury in France. And meanwhile, Bautista also didn't put in his most dazzling performances. That of Talavera de la Reina suffered falls and made several mistakes this year they left him third overall, behind his Aruba.it teammate, the “rookie” Nicolô Bulega. So, he even thought about retirement, but ultimately he will continue with Borgo Panigale in 2025.
Precisely, the Italian firm has a significant presence at EICMA 2024 which is being held this weekend. Bautista was able to be present and, in statements to 'GPOne', he was able to analyze how his year 2024 went. and what does he expect for next year, where he will undoubtedly try to take a step forward.
“Unfortunately, it was a difficult season. In life there are good times and bad times. Physically, I was not in good shape and the regulations also put a strain on us, forcing me to work harder.. As if that were not enough, the level of the championship has increased significantly compared to the previous year. Obviously, I regret the way 2024 went, but this season will serve as a lesson for the future,” the number 19 began by saying.
“Difficulties make you stronger and I will have to deal with them better next year. I tried to do more in 2024, but in the end I did worse. You can't hope to go further if you don't know what the limit is.“, he continued, recognizing that he must better measure what will need to be done in 2025.
However, Bautista believes it won't be easy to return to the position Ducati was in before 2024. For the Talavera man, the championship is no longer balanced after concessions benefited BMW this year to the point of distancing it from the spirit of the championship and transform the Bavarian machine into a prototype.
This is how he explained it, attacking the WorldSBK technical regulations: “It will be very difficult to improve performance in 2025, knowing that the dealerships favored BMW by transforming the bike into a prototypeand comes to the point that the M 1000 RR has nothing to do with the production model. Unfortunately, this is what caused the new regulations, and at this point We also need a prototype to beat them on the track“.
“The minimum weight is a bad standard. In fact, as I have said many times, it is not fair. In my opinion, until a year ago the championship was balanced. Unfortunately the situation is now unbalanced and I don't think it's fair to increase disadvantages by taking away pilot talent.“, he continued.
Regarding the new Panigale presented at World Ducati Week, Bautista had this to say: “The WDW bike was quite different from the one that will do the first tests next year.. At the moment, I still don't know when I'm going to try it. If I try it and like it, I'll stay, if not, I'll leave it to someone else. [dijo entre risas sobre la cantidad de pruebas que hará en 2025]. Let's see. I'm sure I'm curious to try it, since the one at WDW wasn't in racing configuration. »
Finally, he discussed his controversy with Andrea Iannonewho said he had been faster than Bautista at Sepang, a track where both competed in the last Malaysian MotoGP Grands Prix in 2024 and 2023: “Maybe he didn't know what to say, but what what he said is not true, in fact I had to defend myself. Andrea says he was faster than me, but in 2024 he did one lap less than me. If a lap had been taken away from me, I would have finished the race three seconds faster. If I were you, I would never have made this comparison.. Andrea, like many others, says that she ran without testing: it is true, as it is, that I had a serious injury. The problem is that with “what ifs” and “maybes” you get nowhere, because only what’s on paper counts. Because otherwise, at this point, I could say that if I had been born in Hollywood, I would be a movie star today“, he concluded.
