Bautista picks Sepang as preferred MotoGP wildcard choice, will Ducati say yes?

Well on track to claim a second WorldSBK title in succession, Bautista is currently at Misano for a two-day private test aboard Ducati’s factory MotoGP machine.

The test, which ends today, got off to a great start on Tuesday with Bautista and Ducati both confirming that everything had gone better than expected. 

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After completing a third straight hat-trick at Misano nearly three weeks ago, Bautista will next be in WorldSBK action in just over one week's time at Donington Park.

Whether Bautista continues his winning streak or not at the British circuit, a track that’s statistically one of his worst since joining WorldSBK in 2019, his 86-point advantage over Toprak Razgatlioglu means a healthy margin will remain no matter what.

It’s a margin that only looks like going up which could result in Bautista winning the title well before the end of the Superbike championship, but also the MotoGP campaign, meaning a wildcard could quickly become the focus.

Asked by WorldSBK.com where his preference for a MotoGP wildcard would be, Bautista confirmed Sepang as his first choice.

Bautista began by saying: "At the moment, doing a wildcard is not in my plans. I did a test. Now we have to be focused on the next three rounds because they are very close, and we need to be concentrating on them. 

"We’ll see. I don’t know if maybe Ducati will ask me to do another test or not but, at the moment, there aren’t any plans for the future. 

"After our Championship finishes, there are a lot of races for MotoGP™. At this moment, I’m not thinking about a wildcard. 

"If you tell me you have to do one wildcard, which track would you like to race… maybe Sepang is a good track. I like it and there are long straights."

Ducati Corse General Manager, Gigi Dall’Igna was also quick to place down a possible wildcard after day-one, however, Ducati Corse Technical Coordinator, Marco Zambenedetti, was a bit more open to the chances of it happening. 

"First of all, everything depends on the feeling that Bautista has. The main goal is for him is WorldSBK to keep the number 1 on the fairing. 

"Nobody knows. At the end of the Championship, if there is the time, we will see."