Alvaro Bautista hails maiden World Superbike title as "dream come true" after Ducati rider crowned champion in Indonesia

The Aruba.it Ducati rider battled with former champion Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha) in race two at the Mandalika International Street Circuit, but was unable to prevent his Turkish rival securing a hat-trick.

However, the runner-up spot was enough for Bautista to put the championship to bed ahead of next weekend’s finale at Phillip Island in Australia.

Northern Ireland’s Jonathan Rea finished on the podium in third. The Kawasaki rider was mathematically ruled out of title contention after finishing third in Saturday’s opening race behind Razgatlioglu and Bautista.

Rea took the fight to Razgatlioglu in the Superpole sprint race on Sunday before his Yamaha rival edged away to win by half-a-second.

Bautista crossed the line in fourth place behind Andrea Locatelli (Pata Yamaha).

The 37-year-old’s championship triumph comes after he allowed a 61-point lead to slip in 2019 as he disputed the title with Rea.

Bautista then made the move to the factory Honda team for two seasons but was unable to make much of an impact on the Fireblade.

He then re-joined the official Ducati team this season and the former 125cc Grand Prix world champion has rarely put a foot wrong, winning 14 races and finishing on the podium 29 times in 33 races to achieve his goal of winning the title.

“It’s incredible, I’m so happy,” Bautista said.

“It’s a dream come true, especially after the last two years and all the difficulties. I want to say thanks to everyone who trusted me, to give me this chance to fight for good places and we got the championship at the first time of trying.

“Today was the first time I felt a bit nervous or stressed, but it was in race two on the grid before the start. I tried to manage the emotions and when I was in first, I was making a lot of mistakes because I had too many thoughts in my head,” he added.

“I just preferred to stay second behind Toprak, but he was very strong, so I could just follow him. I’m so happy.”

Bautista paid tribute to rivals Razgatlioglu and Rea, who have set an exceptional standard in the championship.

“It’s difficult to know what to say – I’m just so happy,” he said.

“During the whole season, I was so happy because I had a lot of experience from the past. I tried to be the best possible rider, not make mistakes.

“I think our performance has been really, really high. I think I had the best performance level ever from Toprak and Jonathan – they performed at a really high level in all races,” Bautista added.

“I was lucky that I made fewer mistakes than them. What’s important is also consistency. I could beat Jonathan, a six-time world champion, and Toprak, a one-time champion, breaking all the records at all the tracks which means the level is so high. We can win with this amazing level.”

Bautista has amassed 553 points compared to Razgatlioglu’s 487 after 11 rounds of the championship. Rea has 450 points in third with three more races to go.