Spaniard Alvaro Bautista has today signed for the Aspar Ducati squad for next season.
Bautista, who has ridden for the Gresini team since they rode Honda’s in 2012, will make the move to the Spanish run team after Aprilia signed both Aleix Espargaro and Sam Lowes for 2017.
This will be Bautista’s second stint at the team. In his first spell with the team, he won the 2006 125cc world championship before winning multiple 250cc races. He then made the step up to MotoGP with Suzuki.
This comes just days after Bautista and teammate Stefan Bradl were openly criticised by Aprilia bosses for a poor showing at the Red Bull Ring last weekend. The race in Spielberg was the first time that the pair had failed to score points all season.
However, Bautista will now join Aspar. He will be replacing one of Yonny Hernandez or Eugene Laverty, with the Irishman being the most likely rider to depart. Laverty has been linked with a return to World Superbikes after two years in the premier class. Hernandez has had a poor 2016, with crashing out at Assen probably being the highlight.
It was also announced that Bautista will be riding a GP16 Desmosedici, this years factory Ducati offering. This should mean that the Aspar team are much more competitive next season.
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