Ducati: Rea, Toprak ‘very complicated competitors, level is growing’ - Bautista

Those include the likes of Danilo Petrucci whom he raced against in MotoGP, Remy Gardner, 2013 world champion Tom Sykes, back-to-back WorldSSP champion Dominique Aegerter and Bradley Ray.

But for Bautista the goal remains the same regardless of who his main competitors are, which is to successfully defend his Superbike championship, something he will do with the #1 attached to his brand new Panigale V4 R.

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Toprak Razgatlioglu and Jonathan Rea are once again expected to be Bautista’s main challengers in 2023, and although the racing between the trio will be hard to improve upon, the former MotoGP rider has no doubt about the level of racing we’ll see.

"I think the championship is growing a lot," said Bautista. "Not only for the level of the category, which is increasing a lot during the past years; we are beating all the records at all the tracks, but also in the quality of the riders. 

"Many riders coming from MotoGP are here. This year, we will have new riders. The World Champion in WorldSSP is coming, the runner-up is coming, so I think the level of the riders is growing. 

"It’s one of the best moments of this championship. I feel part of this revolution of the championship. 

"Every year will be more and more difficult, so we have to be very focused and concentrated. We have to keep working, keep this focus and try to improve because, otherwise, we cannot fight for the top."

Bautista is not alone in thinking that the current level in WorldSBK is at an all-time high as Ducati CEO, Claudio Domenicali, issued similar thoughts during the Italian manufacturer’s official 2023 bike launch.

Domenicali added: "I think we can expect a lot of good racing and more of the same, I hope! We will always try to win and the championship is very long, so we depend a lot on how much Alvaro and Michael [Ruben Rinaldi] can keep training properly, can be focused mentally… motorbike racing is a sport. 

"A lot about technology but also, at least the same amount or even more, about rider confidence and focus. 

"It’s difficult to keep that for the long term but I think both Michael and Alvaro have really good potential of keeping this focus. Jonny and Toprak are really very complicated competitors but that’s why the racing will be so good."