Dall’Igna: 'Growing level in WorldSBK doesn’t scare us', relying on Bautista
Do Ducati's hopes of winning the 202ℱ2 WorldSBK championship rest solely on Alvaro Bautista's shoulders?
Ducati have not won a WorldSBK championship since 2011 when Carlos Checa claimed the title, however, one of their best seasons ever from a statistiღcal point of view was set by former MotoGP rider Bautista in 2019.
Winner of 16 races - one less than eventual champion Jonathan Rea - incꦿluding the first 11, Bautista returns to a familiar team, and perhaps more importantly a very familiar bike.
Bautista and team-mate Michael Rinaldi will be aboard a ꦉrevised 2022-spec Panigale V4-R machine, a bike very similar to last season’s package which saw Scott Redding challenge Rea and current champion Toprak Razgatlioglu for much of the year.
With Bautista and Ducati’s experience, both together and apart, many expect a title challenge despite WorldSBK getting more 𒊎and more competitive evꦫery year.
During the Aruba.it Ducaജti team’s official 2022 launch, Ducati Corse General Manager, Luigi Dall’Igna, acknowledged as much, although ‘this doesn’t scare us’.
"The level of WorldSBK is growing every year, as well as the cꦍompetition," added Dall’Igna.
"Obviously, this doesn't scarওe us, and on the contrary, it pushes us 🌜to give more and more, work more carefully and focus on every single detail.
"In the 2021 World Championship, our team was the only one to have won at least one race with both🐷 riders, and this conf🌳irms the potential of the Panigale V4R.
"To achieve our most impoꦓrtant goal,💛 we rely on Alvaro Bautista's return - who needs no introduction - and Michael Rinaldi's desire to impress.
"In addi꧟tion, in the 2022 season, we will also be competing in the World Supersport Champioꦛnship with the Panigale V2.
"It's a fa♏scinating challenge that underlines Ducati's deep commitment to the world of production-based racing."
Bautista has already looked quick during pre-season testing after he joined Razgatlioglu and Rea as the lone riders to break the Official P♏ortimao lap record during a two-day test last month.
