Can Ducati snap its Donington Park WorldSBK drought this weekend?

Flying high atop the WorldSBK championship, winner of half the races that have taken place so far in 2022, Alvaro Bautista heads into Donington Park in ominous form but will it be enough to beat Jonathan Rea and Toprak Razgatlioglu at a track that’s proved difficult for Ducati?

Robert Jones

14 Jul 2022

Based on the 2022 WorldSBK season so far, chances of Bautista winning a race are fairly high this weekend.

That would be especially true if he finishes ahead of both Rea and Razgatlioglu as last season’s title contenders are the only riders to beat Bautista in a race this year.

But with that said, Ducati have not won at Donington Park since 2011 when eventual champion Carlos Checa won race two.

It’s not just race wins which have been a problem for Ducati at Donington Park as the Italian manufacturer has claimed just six podiums since 2011.

Bautista’s best result at Donington Park as a WorldSBK rider is third (2019), however, the Leicestershire-based circuit was a very successful one for the 37 year-old during his Grand Prix days - the Spaniard took victory in the 125cc world championship (2006) along with another three podiums - two of which came in 250cc.

But if Bautista is going to replicate the form he’s shown throughout the opening four rounds of 2022, he will need to do so at a circuit where Rea and Razgatlioglu have dominated in recent seasons.

Since 2019 only Rea and Razgatlioglu have won at Donington Park, while the former also claimed victory in 2018 (race two).

Toprak Razgatlioglu and Jonathan Rea, Donington Park WorldSBK race 2, 4 July 2021 — Toprak Razgatlioglu and Jonathan Rea, Donington Park WorldSBK race 2, 4…
© Gold and Goose

So often a race weekend dominated by Tom Sykes, the now-BSB rider is no longer a contender to the likes of Rea, Razgatlioglu and Bautista after having left BMW to join Visiontrack Ducati.

Bautista, who leads the WorldSBK standings by a commanding 36 points has already put himself in a position where he can afford to lose some of that advantage, but with the Aruba.it Ducati rider having dominated at Misano last time out, anything but challenging for wins will be expected.

For reigning world champion Razgatlioglu, Misano and Donington Park were the two rounds where he began to cement himself as a title contender in 2021, and having now won his first race of the year during the Misano Superpole race, another strong weekend is needed for the Turkish star who is 79 points behind Bautista.