DATES CONFIRMED: Bautista to test Ducati MotoGP™ bike at Misano in June
The reigning World Superbike Champion will have a test on a MotoGP™ bike in Italy on the 20th and 21st June
Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) will take advantage of the break in the MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship to complete a two-day test at the Misano World Circuit “Marco Simoncelli” with the Ducati MotoGP™ bike. The test will take place on June 20th and 21st at the venue where Bautista claimed a hat-trick of wins in WorldSBK as he enjoys an outing on the Desmosedici GP machine.
Bautista has been talking about completing a test with the MotoGP™ machine after winning the WorldSBK title last year and he is currently on top of the standings in 2023 with 14 wins in the first 15 races this year. However, with a three-weekend break between the Emilia-Romagna and UK Rounds, Bautista will swap his Panigale V4 R machine for the Desmosedici GP bike across a two-day test at Misano, running as part of the Aruba.it Racing team that competed at the Italian Grand Prix at Mugello last weekend with Michele Pirro.
Misano has been a happy hunting ground for Bautista in WorldSBK on Ducati machinery with three wins in 2023 and two more in 2022. He also claimed a podium finish there in 2019 in Race 1 on his first race with Ducati at Misano in WorldSBK, as well as winning the Tissot Superpole Race on Sunday morning. With so much knowledge of the track already, both from WorldSBK and MotoGP™, as well as a lot of success there in recent times, Bautista will be able enjoy the test to the fullest.
While the test will take place in June, there has been speculation about a potential wildcard for Bautista as part of the programme although nothing has been confirmed by the team, manufacturer or the rider. Discussing a potential wildcard in MotoGP™, Bautista said in a feature interview: “After I won the World Championship in WorldSBK, I asked Ducati to have a test with the MotoGP™ bike because, from the outside, it seems like a really fun bike. We will do the test very soon. I don’t do the test with an intention to do a wildcard. I’d like to do the test and let’s see what happens. I don’t think there’s a lot of chance to repeat what Troy Bayliss did in 2006. It was another time and it was different. At the moment, in my mind, it’s only the World Superbike Championship. I just take the test like a prize and don’t think about Troy Bayliss.”
With the dates now confirmed for the test, plans are in place to cover Bautista’s return to MotoGP™ machinery. There will be a team on the ground at Misano to produce footage of Bautista on track and in the box across both days, while there will also be interviews conducted at Misano to get instant thoughts about the test and much more from Bautista’s test. There will also be pictures of the test for you to see incredible images of Bautista back in MotoGP™ machinery.
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