Bautista Wraps Up WorldSBK Title
T
he new World Champion is
the old World Champion, as
Alvaro Bautista became the first
Ducati rider since Carl Fogarty
(1998/'99) to double up champi-
onship wins on a red bike from
the Bologna area.
It was all wrapped up by the first
race on Saturday, a race in which
Bautista led across the line for all
20 laps. He won that race as he
meant it, even if he only needed to
score two points, no matter who
else—Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata
Yamaha Prometeon)—may or may
not have done.
To his credit, Bautista wanted
to win it like a champion to take
his 25th race win of the year, ex
-
tending his own record for wins
in a season after securing that
first race victory. He duly donned
a set of gold lame/leather race
leathers, a gold helmet and
matching gloves before he got
back to the pitlane.
Remy Gardner (GRT Yamaha)
was fast but fell early on, con
-
tacting the blameless Axel Bas-
sani on the way. Bassani later
got knocked off at T9 by his old
rival, Michael Ruben Rinaldi.
Dominique Aegerter (GRT
Yamaha) was a second-place Su
-
perpole qualifier, but his bike had
a technical issue, and he finally
finished 18th.
Andrea Locatelli got yet
another podium finish as he
got past one-time second-place
runner Jonathan Rea (KRT), who
ended up fourth.
Fifth was Danilo Petrucci
(Barni Spark Ducati), and sixth
was another great end-of-season
ride by Philipp Ottl (GoEleven
Ducati).
The grey clouds from Friday
reappeared in time for the start
of the Superpole race on Sunday.
WIND
IN THE
P32
Alvaro Bautista celebrates his
second WorldSBK title with the fans
at Jerez.
PHOTOS: GOLD & GOOSE
