2006 125cc World Champion Alvaro Bautista became a frontrunner in the 250cc World Championship for three seasons before moving up to MotoGP™ in 2010, where he scored a top-five race finish in his rookie year twice, onboard a Suzuki. In 2011, he achieved another top five before switching to Honda machinery for 2012 – with which Bautista scored his first pole and podium in the same year. Another podium in 2014 prefaced a move to Aprilia for their inaugural year with Aprilia Racing Team Gresini, before 2016 saw the Spaniard and the team begin to gain entry to Q2 and fight for consistent top ten results. In 2017, Bautista joined the Pull&Bear Aspar Team in MotoGP™ aboard a Ducati, where P4 was his best result, while he continued with the team for 2018, once again with P4 his best as he rode to a third consecutive Championship 12th place. That proved his final year in MotoGP™ as he embarked on a WorldSBK adventure in 2019 that yielded back-to-back titles in 2022 and 2023. After a five year absence, Bautista returned to MotoGP™ in 2023 for a Wildcard appearance with Ducati at the Malaysian GP.