SBK: Alvaro Bautista at Magny-Cours to overtake... Troy Bayliss

It’s no secret that Alvaro Bautista is rewriting the WorldSBK record books, with the Spaniard having won more than half the races he has contested aboard the Ducati Panigale V4 R since 2019 (overlooking that negative interlude with Honda in 2020 and 2021). Bautista comes to Magny-Cours as the clear championship leader, but the weekend may bring one more milestone to add to his collection.

Bautista ready to overtake Bayliss in number of wins

In race 2 at Most, or rather the last race prior to the start of the summer break, Alvaro scored his fiftieth win in Superbike. If he were to achieve a triple at the French track, he’d reach 53 world championship wins with the Borgo Panigale bike. This would see him move ahead of the legendary Troy Bayliss, who won 52 races, the last of which at Portimao in 2008, the year of his third world title.

What is surprising is the speed with which Bautista has achieved these results, considering that the Australian amassed 52 wins over 150 races, while Alvaro has contested just 96. Having three races per weekend helps in part of course, but there’s no denying that the former MotoGP rider and the Aruba Ducati represent one of the most successful ever pairings in SBK history.  And the 55 race wins of Carl Fogarty, another Ducati legend, are not far off.