Bologna buses?

We’re about to find out whether, after waiting for 15 years in MotoGP and 11 years in World Superbikes, Ducati is going to clinch both championships within a week of one another. What an irony that would be. A real case of two Bologna buses coming along at once…

Greg Haines writes from Barcelona

There were well over 5,000 days between Casey Stoner clinching Ducati’s first MotoGP crown in 2007 and Pecco Bagnaia the second in Valencia last weekend. In WorldSBK, Ducati’s last title win was also the only one thus far for a Spanish rider but it looks as though Alvaro Bautista could change that in Indonesia this weekend.

Although it’s possible Bautista can wrap up the title on Saturday at the Mandalika circuit, it seems more likely he’ll get the job done on Sunday. Or will he? Rain is always around in that part of the world and the Talavera de la Reina man has already admitted it’s not going to be an easy weekend. He’s also never been under pressure like this before, so anything could still happen. I’d be very surprised if Bautista didn’t win the championship now – and he and Ducati have undoubtably been the best rider/bike/team package of 2022 – but is there perhaps one more surprise waiting for us?

We’ll be live on Eurosport and Discovery+ across the weekend!