Will Alvaro Bautista help Nicolo Bulega in WorldSBK title fight? “I have a target”

The Aragon WorldSBK marks the 10th stop on the 2025 calendar, and with only three rounds to go the pressure is mounting between the title rivals: Toprak Razgatlioglu and Nicolo Bulega; but the latter’s teammate, Alvaro Bautista, has suggested that he will not try to help his teammate.

Bulega comes into the Aragon World Superbike round this weekend (26–28 September) 39 points behind Razgatlioglu in the riders’ standings and having not beaten the BMW rider since Race 2 at Most back in May.

Since then, Razgatlioglu has won all 12 races, and has looked increasingly difficult for anyone, including Bulega, to beat.

The final races of the 2024 season saw Bautista called on to help Bulega in some cases, most notably at the final round in Estoril. 

Bautista obliged then, but he feels that the onus this year is on Bulega to go and win the title himself.

“For Nico [Nicolo Bulega], it all depends on him,” Alvaro Bautista said, speaking to WorldSBK.com ahead of the Aragon WorldSBK.

“He has to beat Toprak. 

“Perhaps last year, I took some points from Toprak, but in any case, he finished the races ahead of Nicolo. 

“He needs to finish ahead of Toprak to reduce the gap. 

“I think it’s difficult because Toprak has a lot of motivation, really strong performance, and I think I’ll think about myself and not help any other rider. 

“I have a target, and I’ll try to reach it.”

“Always very good to ride” in Aragon

With himself in mind, Bautista is optimistic ahead of the Aragon race, feeling that the MotorLand layout is one that suits both himself and the Ducati Panigale V4 R.

“It’s always very good to ride here,” Bautista said.

“It’s a track that I’ve had good results at in the past, but every year and season is different. I think the layout fits my riding style very well, and plays to the strengths of the Ducati. 

“This season, we are not fighting for the position we wanted, but it’s always nice to come here. I think we can be a bit more competitive.”

Bautista added that he is targeting third in the championship, but that he’s worried about the trend of this year when he’s been close to that third position.

“Our target right now is to finish in the top-three in the championship, and we’re close,” he said.

“Every time we’re close to third in the championship, something happens, and I lose more points than I would gain!”

Last year’s Aragon Round was the last occasion on which Bautista was victorious in World Superbike, winning both the Superpole Race and Race 2 ahead of Toprak Razgatlioglu.

“Last year was amazing from the Superpole Race onwards, which was a great battle with Nicolo [Bulega] and Toprak [Razgatlioglu],” Bautista said.

“In Race 2, we were really strong. We were really fast, lap by lap, we went faster and faster. It was one of my favourite races in my whole career.”