The last few weeks have seen the MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship 2026 grid rumour mill start to spin; the latest news is that Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing - Ducati) has confirmed his desire to continue with the Ducati factory team after speculation about his future. He had previously left the issue up in the air with vague answers in the past, both he and his team being intentionally vague about their intentions with each other to the media. Ahead of the Motul Czech Round at Autodrom Most, Bautista has now clarified his willingness to remain in red for 2026.

INTENTIONS CLEAR: Bautista wants to race in 2026

The combination of his lukewarm responses about his desire to race next season in 2026, and his struggles to keep pace with teammate Nicolo Bulega and rival Toprak Razgatlioglu (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) led to widespread speculation about the rider from Madrid. A theme seen across his past answers on the issue is how he feels when riding. He’s said before that when he is no longer enjoying his feeling of his bike, he will start to consider stepping away. As his form has improved however, his tone has lightened, to the point that now he’s clarified that he is in for 2026, and that the ball is in his team’s court.

When asked whether there was an update on his future ahead of the Czech Round, Bautista said: “To be honest, I have an agreement with Ducati for 2025 and 2026, I just need to say yes from my side and the team needs to say yes from theirs, but the agreement is already signed. I have confirmed with the team that I want to keep racing in 2026, and now I’m just waiting for their answer.”

GOOD CONFIDENCE FOR THE #19: can he keep his podium streak going?

So far in 2025, it has been head-to-head duel between Bulega and Razgatlioglu, and while Bautista has been gobbling up podiums, he has yet to shuffle aside Bulega or Razgatlioglu to claim a race win. His sole race result above P3 was a P2 in Race 2 at Assen, benefitting from a Bulega tech issue. He has however been the clear third-fastest rider on the grid so far this season, no small feat considering the strong form this season from riders like Andrea Locatelli (Pata Maxus Yamaha), Danilo Petrucci (Barni Spark Racing Team) and Sam Lowes (ELF Marc VDS Racing Team). Heading into Most, he is riding high on a 5-podium streak, a feather in the cap of the two-time Champion.

Discussing his thoughts for Most, the Spaniard added: “After Cremona, we’re in a good state, building up good confidence on the bike, fortunately the bike is working really well this year on the track, at least very consistent. It’s been nice getting similar feedback from different tracks. This track is very different from Cremona, and the weather will be a bit different, so just going to try to start on Friday working with the bike and pick up on the feeling I’ve had in previous rounds. We’ll work to try to understand the new tyres Pirelli is bringing in order to understand which are the best for race day.”

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