Ducati rider Alvaro Bautista wrapped up his second World Superbike title with victory in the opening race of the final round of the season at Jerez.
He notched up his 25th win in 34 races in Saturday afternoon’s 20-lap contest, beating his nearest title rival Toprak Razgatlioglu by a margin of 1.195 seconds.
With only Sunday’s two Jerez races to go, it means Bautista has an insurmountable 65-point lead with only 37 left on offer.
The 38-year-old Spaniard becomes Ducati’s first repeat champion in WSBK since Troy Bayliss in 2006, and the first of the Italian marque’s riders to successfully defend a title since Carl Fogarty in 1999.
Andrea Locatelli completed the podium in third on the second works Yamaha, while Jonathan Rea opened his final weekend as a Kawasaki with a solid run to fourth place.
