After a few thrilling past seasons, Bautista's absolute dominance in this year's WSBK has been bad news for Dorna, which seems unlikely to be able to do anything to stop it. Explained:
In front of 32,000 adoring Spanish fans, Bautista lived up to pre-weekend predictions of being the favourite, securing all three wins in effortless fashion. It means he’s now won 11 of the 12 races so far held in 2023, and has given him a healthy 69-point championship lead.
This is bad news for series promoter Dorna amid signs that fan interest is dwindling. True, the championship survived a six-year run of dominance by Kawasaki man Jonathan Rea, but even then compelling rivalries with the likes of Tom Sykes, Chaz Davies, Scott Redding and even Bautista himself helped keep the fans at least somewhat engaged.
Now a further rev change is off the table, what else can Dorna do? After all, while the Ducati is the best package on the grid, it’s clear Bautista is able to extract so much more from it than any of the other riders in the Italian marque’s stable. And let’s be honest - it’s not just down to weight, as evidenced by Bautista’s struggles during his two-year stint at Honda in 2020-21. Who back then was calling for WSBK to urgently adopt a minimum combined rider/bike weight?Speculation about Bautista’s future was gathering pace prior to the Barcelona round, and certainly if the 38-year-old had decided to call it a career - as he was strongly hinting at - he would have been doing Dorna a big favour.
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