Two-time MOTUL FIM Superbike World Champion Alvaro Bautista (Barni Spark Racing Team) rides into the final two rounds of 2026 still without a seat for next year’s campaign. The #19 hopes to raise his stock with a strong final push over the last two rounds, as he did in 2025, when he took eight podiums from the final eight races. He wants to let his racing speak for itself over the final two rounds of the season before he circles back this offseason to evaluate his options for 2027.

Following his silverware-laden close to the 2025 campaign, which clinched him third place in the Riders’ Championship battle, Bautista moved from the factory Aruba.it Racing – Ducati outfit to the Barni Ducati squad. Despite starting the year well with a podium at Phillip Island in a wet Race 2, the Spanish rider has struggled to hit those heights since. With that sole rostrum result, he’s on pace for his worst top-three tally since his sophomore WorldSBK season in 2020. Just after Round 10 at Cremona, the Barni Ducati team announced that Xavi Vierge (Pata Maxus Yamaha) will join the team atop Bautista’s bike in 2027 to ride next to Yari Montella, meaning that the #19 will need to find a new ride for the campaign to come.

Speaking about his future ahead of Estoril, Bautista said: “At the moment, I don’t have any clear proposals that motivate me to keep racing. I want to finish out this season, then have a break and think about my future. I don’t want to do something just because I have to. I want something that motivates me and makes me feel like I have a chance to recover my form and performance level.  Right now, I’m not concerned about that. I just want to end this season as soon as possible. I’ve had good results in the past at Estoril, but Jerez is my home round. I’d like to enjoy these two rounds, then think about the future.”

With 2027 seats filling up fast, 2026’s rider market is open for business. Bautista has his work cut out for him to woo one of the remaining garages into bringing him in for the next iteration of WorldSBK. Check out who is headed where in the full silly season article.

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