The two-time WorldSBK champion had a more dominant season than any rider in history, but that didn’t ♒stop crashes from giving Toprak Razgatlioglu hope in the title fight.

Bautista eventually secured his second title in successio♌n last year, and will be the heavy favourite to make that three on the bounce in 2024.

• ꩲRea on leaving Kawasaki: ‘I wish to be worldꦗ champion again’ 
• Redding: Toprak ‘has something that sets him ap𒆙art from everyone else’

After his crowning moment, Bautista said: “T꧒o be World Champion in 2023 sounds really good, especially because it’s very difficult to win a title and it’s even more difficult to defend it. 

“At the b𒁃eginning of the season, I chose to use the #1 because I felt strong enough to defend the title with it. Defending the #1 on the bike is always really 🅰nice and it’s a pleasure for me to be part of the history. 

“My previous Championships were won in Australia in 125cc in 2006 and last year in Indonesia. I enjoyed the moment a lot with the team, but to win at Jerez was amazin🎉g.&nb🌟sp;

“I could share all these incredible moments with my friends and family. It was a dream come true to have the chance to celebrate tღhe Championship with everyone. 

“I was really happy to share the Championship with my daughters. Every time they see a heart, they say ‘a heart like daddy’ s🐻o my first thought was to do the heart sign for them. They celebrated with me, and it was amazing.”

While Bautista never really looked like losing a stranglehold on the champi🐲onship, several crashes including his lap one mistake at Imola opened the door for Razgatlioglu to claw back big points.

Discussing that moment, Bautista told WorldSBK.com: “From Imola, I learnt a lot. Maybe I had more tension than normal. I don’t know if it was because the weather was too hot or the track co𓂃nditions.&nb𝕴sp;

“I think I crashed because of that.🍷 I didn’t have a good appreciation of the reality and maybe, in that corner, I tou💞ched the inside kerb and then I crashed. 

“It was my mistake but fortunately I learnt from it. Aragon was a bit different from Imola. In that crash🦹, I was 💃too confident. 

“I had a bit of a gap to second and maybe I was too relaxed. The second one was because I tried to gain two positions in one corner. I could expect that crash be𓆏cause I was over the limit.”