Alvaro Bautista is the 2022 World Superbike Champion

In his fourth season in the World Superbike paddock and his second season with Ducati Bautista has finally been crowned World Superbike Champion.

The 37-year-old raced for Ducati in 2019, but finished second in the Championship. After a two year stint at Honda a return to Ducati was what Bautista needed.

This season the Spanish rider stood on the podium 29 times and won 14 races. This season Bautista has been by far the best rider on the grid. So far this season after 33 races Bautista has only been absent from the podium four times.

Not only is this Bautista’s first World Superbike title but it is Ducati’s first World Superbike title since 2011. Ducati once were a dominant force in World Superbikes but after a decade with no Championships the glory days could be back for the Bologna factory.

Bautista is staying with Ducati for 2023 and the Italian manufacturer are producing a new Panigale for next year. All eyes should be on the new Champion for 2023 as he will be the favourite for the title.

Bautista said: “It’s incredible, I’m so happy. It’s a dream come true, especially after the last two years and all the difficulties. I want to say thanks to everyone who trusted me, to give me this chance to fight for good places and we got the Championship at the first time of trying. Today was the first time I felt a bit nervous or stressed, but it was in Race 2 on the grid before the start. I tried to manage the emotions and when I was in first, I was making a lot of mistakes because I had too many thoughts in my head! I just preferred to stay second behind Toprak, but he was very strong, so I could just follow him. So happy.”

Luigi Dall’Igna, Ducati Corse General Manager, added: “It is a wonderful day for us. We worked a lot with Alvaro in the past and in 2019 we did a fantastic job until the middle of the season. In the end, we could not win the crown. Today, in the end, and it was a fantastic emotion. It was a special day. This is probably one of the best seasons of his life. This year, and 2006, were two really amazing seasons for him. He won the 2006 125cc World Championship and today he won WorldSBK. He’s a real fantastic rider and I’m really, really happy he could get the title today.”

Images from worldsbk.com