Alvaro Bautista reopens row over “bull****” Andrea Iannone “faster” remark

Alvaro Bautista has again addressed Andrea Iannone’s claim to be “faster” in his MotoGP wildcard.

Iannone followed in Bautista’s footsteps by featuring in the Malaysian MotoGP as a one-off, a year after his rival.

Iannone, who rode a GP23 for the VR46 Ducati team, claimed afterwards that he had gone faster than Bautista managed a year earlier.

“Comparisons are never nice, and I'm sorry that Andrea wanted to compare himself to me since they were two very different situations,” Bautista told Motosprint.

“I don't know where he saw that he was faster than me, since he did one lap less in the race.

“I just want to defend myself because it's not a good situation, and as I said we're talking about two different situations, also because I arrived in Sepang with a major shoulder injury.

"If he had done the tests he would have been faster, like me without injury, but with ifs and buts you don't do much.

“If I had been born in Hollywood maybe now I am a famous actor, but I was born in Talavera and I am a rider!

“The numbers tell the truth, and I'm sorry for this comparison.

“I don't want controversy but only to defend myself: it's bullshit, but I didn't want it to end in a certain way.”

Bautista, in 2023, was still feeling the effects of a shoulder injury when he rode for Ducati in Sepang.

Both Bautista in 2023 and Iannone this year finished the grand prix in 17th.

They locked horns in the World Superbike Championship this year, where Iannone returned to after a four-year ban elapsed.

Bautista finished third in his title defence, Iannone was seventh.

They will both return in 2025 riding Ducatis.