Álvaro Bautista returned to Aruba.it Ducati in 2022, dominating that season and the next. At the time, he replaced Scott Redding, who had two seasons of moderate success but never managed to secure the title.
The Spaniard, who has been at odds with the British rival for several months over the mandatory minimum weight discussion for bike + rider, recently commented to motorsport-total.com:
– Scott came to Ducati when they were already far ahead. But in his second season with Ducati, he struggled more. There is a difference between riding a very good bike and sitting on a bike where you have to work.
For the two-time champion, in the comparison between Toprak Razgatlioglu and Redding, there is a clearly better rider: ‘If you compare Redding to Toprak, it quickly becomes clear that Toprak is, by far, a better rider. This affects all areas, not just the riding itself. It’s also about how you work and what you say off-track [laughs]’.