Alvaro Bautista

Lore & Background

Bautista competed for the Suzuki team in his first two years after moving to the MotoGP class in 2010. He moved to the Honda-equipped Gresini Racing team in 2012, and continued with the team using Aprilia machinery when the factory returned to MotoGP for the 2015 season. Bautista then rode a Ducati with the Aspar (then Ángel Nieto) MotoGP team in 2017 and 2018, before moving to the Superbike World Championship for 2019. After the 2019 World Superbike season with the factory Ducati team, for 2020 and 2021, Bautista was contracted to ride the Honda Fireblade in World Superbikes, with the team being run under full HRC control.

Reader's Guide

Born in Talavera de la Reina, Castile-La Mancha, Bautista rode a motorcycle for the first time at three years of age. His father owned a motorcycle repair shop and built his first bike from scratch; Bautista competed in his first race five years later. In only his second season he finished runner-up in the Madrid Minimoto Championship and then went on to win the championship three years in a row. In 1997, he simultaneously raced in the 50cc Aprilia Cup where he claimed his first podium, finishing the season in sixth place. Another year in the 50cc Aprilia Cup saw Bautista taking two more podiums and ending the season in third place when Alberto Puig chose him from over 4000 applicants for the Movistar Activa Joven Cup in 1999. He finished his first year in fifth place, ahead of Dani Pedrosa, earning him a second year in the Cup and a place as a back-up rider for the 125cc Spanish Championship. However, injury the following year set Bautista back and despite taking one podium in the Movistar Cup, he only finished the season in ninth place. In 2001, he entered the 125cc Spanish Championship with Team Belart which folded halfway through the season due to financial reasons. However, he was spotted by Manuel Morente who signed him up for the remaining races of the season and offered him a new team with iconic Atlético Madrid sponsoring for the following year. In 2002, finally having official material at his disposal, Bautista fought with Hector Barbera for the 125cc Spanish Championship until the last race of the season at Valencia. He set pole-position, but only finished fifth after a crash, securing him the runner-up spot overall. The same year, Bautista made his international debut in the 2002 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season with the same team, running as a wildcard entry at Jerez, Catalunya and Valencia. He also competed in the 125cc European Championship where he scored a podium in Assen and a fourth place in Hungary.

Did You Know?

• Bautista won the 2006 125cc World Championship with eight wins and 14 podiums in 16 races.
• He was the 2006 125cc Spanish Champion, winning the title with two races to go.
• Bautista's first 250cc victory came at the 2007 Italian Grand Prix at Mugello.
• He finished runner-up in the 2008 250cc World Championship behind Marco Simoncelli.