The MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship charged across the line and turned the page on its 2026 season, and while the Pirelli Spanish Round didn’t produce the rostrum return he had hoped, the final day at his beloved Circuito de Jerez - Angel Nieto, Andalucia showed the entire paddock that two-time WorldSBK Champion Alvaro Bautista still has the speed to fight for the podium.

STRONG START IN THE SUPERPOLE RACE

After an encouraging fourth-place finish to Saturday, it looked like all of the pieces were slowly clicking together for the #19 just in time for the season’s final pair of races on Sunday. Firing off at lights out from P9, Bautista got most of his work done early, stealing P8 from Independent Ducati Lorenzo Baldassarri (Team GoEleven) on the final Turn 13 of the opening lap. Lap 2 saw him take another position from Alberto Surra (Motocorsa Racing), cutting inside of the rookie rider at overtaking hotspot Turn 6 with slight contact to take seventh. Less than a minute later, while barreling down the straight into Lap 3, Bautista was brave on the brakes and passed Tommy Bridewell (Superbikes Advocates) for sixth place with eight laps still remaining. Try as he might, Bautista didn’t quite have the pace on Sunday morning to catch Alex Lowes (bimota by Kawasaki Racing Team) in P5 ahead of him. While he chopped it down to around six tenths by Lap 8, the margin hung at just under a second for most of the remainder of the contest, ushering Bautista to sixth place.

“THE RESULT ISN’T WHAT WE DESERVED, BUT THIS IS RACING”

Sensing the lateness of the hour, Bautista propelled himself up to third by the end of Race 2’s opening lap, three positions forward from having started at the back of the second row. By Lap 3, the front pair were already distant on the horizon: #19 Iker Lecuona (Aruba.it Racing - Ducati) was nine tenths ahead, and Bulega over two seconds ahead. All went according to plan for the #19 as the race developed; he couldn’t quite shake Sam Lowes (ELF Marc VDS Racing Team) behind him, but his cushion had grown to just under two seconds by Lap 15; both figuratively and literally, however, the sky was getting darker for the #19 as dark clouds rolled in. The white flag was waved on Lap 16, and three minutes later, rain was reported in the first three sectors. By Lap 17, Bautista’s margin was down to nine tenths. By Lap 18, it was down to just 0.3s. With a return to the podium agonisingly close, just two laps away, he finished the penultimate Lap 19 with just two tenths in hand. With rain continuing to fall on track, the #14 completed his comeback for P3 on the final lap with a Turn 5 move, crossing the line in P3 after taking back half a second on Lap 16, and six tenths on Lap 18, thriving in the rainy conditions to steal away the podium from the #19.

Bautista saw the Race 2 glass half-full, he said: “It wasn’t such a bad day. In the Superpole Race, it’s always difficult. Everyone is always pushing 100% from the start. I stayed close to the front positions, but not enough to catch them. Starting from the second row in Race 2, I had a better chance to stay at the front. I had a really good start, I overtook three riders into the first corner. It allowed me to sit third. I was riding well, felt good on the bike, and saw the gap behind me increasing. Behind me, Sam had me as a reference, and unfortunately, I lost some tyre pressure as I had stopped pushing as hard. After two or three laps, the tyres were difficult; I felt no grip, no contact, and I decided to at least finish the race. I’m happy, though, because when conditions were normal, I was strong and I improved my gap to other riders. The result isn’t what we deserved, but this is racing. You have to focus on the bike; you can’t think about the rain or about him catching you. I don’t feel frustrated; this time I had some problems, other times other riders have some problems.

“MY MANAGER IS WORKING TO HAVE SOME PROPOSALS, LET’S SEE IF WE HAVE SOMETHING THAT’S MOTIVATING. I WANT TO KEEP RACING”

2027 is still an unknown for the two-time World Champion, as Spanish rider Xavi Vierge will join the Barni Ducati box in his place, and he doesn’t have a seat confirmed for the season to come. The team waited for the rider back in their box, with his wife and two daughters waiting in the wings. Podium or not, Bautista showed his pedigree, and he will eagerly await news from his agent over the course of this offseason.

Looking back on his season and looking ahead to 2027, Bautista said: “I’m so proud of the weekend we did. After a season like this, it’s not easy to recover. Results that didn’t come, the midseason injury, many circumstances that didn’t let us show our potential. It’s not easy to stay motivated and push until the end. We did that at Estoril, and we did that here, we have to be proud of this. It was fantastic to have my loved ones here. This weekend has been emotional overall, seeing the support from people who say, ‘Keep racing!’ In the box, it seemed like a goodbye, which it is from the team, but it’s been good to have them there waiting for me. I don’t know what’s next for me, I don’t have any new information. My manager is working on some proposals; I’ll call him this week. Let’s see if we have something motivating. I want to keep racing.”

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