FACTORY SEATS UP FOR GRABS: Yamaha, BMW and Honda remain with open spots in their 2026 garage
With the season accelerating into the final four rounds, several critical seats remain free
Amid recent bombshell announcements, the 2026 MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship silly season rumour mill continues to turn; several big seats remain vacant. Recently, the futures of Jonathan Rea (Pata Maxus Yamaha), Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing - Ducati) and Iker Lecuona (Honda HRC) were resolved but four key factory seats remain unfulfilled for next season.
LATEST FROM BMW: Petrucci to replace Razgatlioglu; however, who will be his teammate remains unclear
With the momentous announcement that Toprak Razgatlioglu (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) will be moving to the MotoGP paddock in 2026, much of the silly season interest was dialled in on who will replace his seat aboard the BMW factory team’s M1000 RR; a question which fans now have an answer as Danilo Petrucci (Barni Spark Racing Team) will move from his Ducati independent team to ride with the German manufacturer. However, the question which remains is the seat currently belonging to Michael van der Mark.
Van der Mark has ridden with the team since 2021, and in his two full seasons not plagued by injury, 2021 and 2024, he has shown he can win races and compete at the front of the pack. In 2022 and 2023, he was hampered by injuries, missing several rounds in each season and struggled to get back to form, finishing 15th and 17th, respectively. 2024 saw the Dutchman win a race and finish sixth in the Championship, the exact placement he earned in his first year with the team. 2025, however, has been something of a head-scratcher for the #60. Earlier in the season, at rounds such as his home round at Assen, the preceding Portimao, and at Cremona, he was placing regularly within the top ten, including landing a top five in back-to-back rounds from Assen to Cremona. Since then, he has struggled to break back into the top ten, including suffering from four DNFs in the last four rounds. The question now facing the German factory team is whether they believe that this uncharacteristic dip in form, now that he is healthy, is a flash in the pan, or whether they think the best move will be to embark on a new chapter with a new rider.
LOCATELLI’S TEAMMATE UNKNOWN: ‘Loka’ locked down, but who will share his garage in light of Rea’s retirement?
With the recent breaking news that six-time WorldSBK Champion Jonathan Rea will be calling an end to his gilded career in the Championship, Niccolo Canepa, Paul Denning and the rest of the brass of the Yamaha factory team now must look for a replacement to ride alongside fifth-year rider Andrea Locatelli. In his time in blue, the #65 struggled to find the famous form he enjoyed on the back of his Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10RR, earning a single pole and a single podium in 2024, before a very unfortunate start to 2025 saw his season begin in Round 4 due to a foot injury suffered in testing ahead of the season-opening races at Phillip Island. Whoever Yamaha decides to Race alongside the #55, they will have big shoes to fill left behind by the greatest to ever ride in WorldSBK.
LECUONA MOVES, NO NEWS ON HONDA’S LINE-UP: Lecuona switches to Ducati, Vierge future unknown
One of the silly season’s bigger storylines revolved around the Aruba.it Racing – Ducati Factory seat belonging to Alvaro Bautista. Many names were linked with the Italian factory seat, but the rider they recently announced to replace the #19 is current Honda factory rider Iker Lecuona. He has ridden with the team for four years, consistently showing promise with two podiums and a pole on the CBR1000RR-R.
Lecuona's departure leaves one seat open for the Japanese manufacturer; across the garage, fellow Spaniard Xavi Vierge currently rides with the team, yet his spot in 2026 has not yet been confirmed. Vierge joined the team in 2022, the same as Lecuona, and 28-year-old Vierge has a similar track record as Lecuona with the team. The main difference between the accomplishments of the two is that while Vierge has one fewer pole and one fewer podium than the #7, the #97 has been more consistent in his placements with fewer crashes and injuries.
Despite around half the grid for 2026 being confirmed, silly season in WorldSBK continues to develop. Plenty of names have been linked to factory teams, and also the few Independent outfits which have seats free, from inside the WorldSBK paddock as well as MotoGP and Moto2. Follow all the silly season updates here.
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