Alvaro Bautista in Limbo as Ducati Yet to Discuss Future
The 2024 WorldSBK season has been marked by ups and downs for Álvaro Bautista. The Spanish driver, who dominated last season, now finds himself in a period of uncertainty and frustration, especially after his inconsistent performance at Misano, where he was overtaken by Toprak Razgatlioglu in all three races.
Lack of consistency has been a constant problem for Bautista, who has also seen his teammate Nicolo Bulega achieve superior results in several races. These difficulties have raised questions about Bautista’s future with the Ducati team, but so far no decision has been made.
Despite the presence of Ducati Corse general manager Gigi Dall’Igna at Misano, Bautista revealed that this had no bearing on discussions about his future. “I talk to Gigi all the time, after every test and race,” explained Bautista. “We are always in touch, not only when he comes to the races. He knows what I need and look for. The fact that he’s here doesn’t change anything about the information.”
Bautista mentioned the existence of a new model of the bike, but expressed his disappointment that he did not have access to it yet. “Honestly, I wish I had something new now that I’m competing; next year is too far for me. Who knows what might happen?”
Bautista’s performance this season has been a shadow of the dominance he has shown in 2023. With Razgatlioglu and Bulega very close in the championship standings, there is a real chance Bautista will fall short of a third straight title.
Furthermore, Bautista stressed that his current focus is on restoring confidence in the bike, rather than the need to secure a new contract. “This weekend was important because we came from strange weekends like in Australia, Barcelona is a complicated track and Assen with mixed conditions. This weekend was a more normal situation. It was important to recover the feeling, but I couldn’t. It feels like we’re working.”
On his future, Bautista was clear saying that there are no set deadlines to decide whether he will continue with Ducati or retire. “At the moment, I don’t have any deadline for my future. There are several questions in my mind and the main one is why I don’t have the same confidence as last year and what do I need to improve? I have no idea about my future and neither Ducati nor Aruba have asked me what I want to do. Maybe this month, before Donington, we’ll talk or not. I’m more concerned about regaining my confidence on the bike than deciding my future.”
With a month until the next race, Bautista hopes to find answers to his questions and regain the form that made him champion. Meanwhile, his future remains uncertain, and he remains in limbo, waiting to see what fate has in store for him.
