MRW Issue 27

NEWS DESK
2022 IN REVIEW:
Ducati World Superbike
The titles in the MOTUL FIM Superbike
World Championship headed to Italy and
Bologna as Ducati took a WorldSBK triple in
2022 by winning the Riders’, Manufacturers’
and Teams’ Championships after an
incredible season. The Riders’ title belonged
to Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati)
as he took Ducati’s first Championship
since 2011, while the Italian manufacturer
were able to end their Manufacturers’
Championship drought stretching to the
same year. After racing concluded for the
season, Aruba.it Racing – Ducati Team
Manager, Serafino Foti, reviewed the
manufacturer’s “amazing” season.
The 2022 campaign started for Ducati
when re-signing Bautista after two seasons
away, after the Spanish rider came into
WorldSBK with Ducati in 2019. He initially
took the Championship by storm, winning
his first 11 races, but missing out on the title.
He switched to Honda for 2020 and 2021
but returned to Ducati for his title-winning
campaign on the Panigale V4 R and Foti
discussed Bautista’s campaign which
featured 16 wins and 31 podiums in 16 races.
Comparing it to 2019, Foti said: “To be
honest, the approach of Alvaro this year is
completely different. At the beginning of this
year, he said every time, ‘okay, please, see it
race by race’. Also, at the end of the season,
the same approach, he was not focused on
the Championship. This year, compared to
2019, was much better regarding consistency.
It was unbelievable. He made only one
mistake, at Donington, and this has made the
difference. He won a lot of races, like in 2019,
but he was more consistent than before.”
2022 proved to be an incredible year
for Ducati as they took the triple of
Championships in WorldSBK, adding to their
success from MotoGP where they also
completed the triple. Foti was keen to praise
the team members who helped Ducati enjoy
so much success in 2022 as well as stressing
that Ducati will enjoy this success, with
the manufacturer waiting 11 years between
WorldSBK titles.
He said: “It was an amazing season because,
after many years, we have never given up,
we have worked really, really hard and finally
we reached our dreams. This is amazing.
Without these fantastic guys, it would not
have been possible to achieve this so I would
like to say thanks to all the team, all the
engineers and all the people involved in this
project. Everyone did a really great job and
we are really, really happy. We will enjoy this
moment. This is the maximum level because
the World Championship is the maximum
level. Of course, the racing spirit of Ducati
is amazing. Everyone pushes in the same
direction and really hard. We did a lot of
jobs, we worked really hard and finally, we
are here. This year was amazing but because
everyone was working really well, and no one
gave up.”