Alvaro Bautista “free for next year”: Ducati “broke the agreement”

Ahead of this weekend’s WorldSBK Emilia-Romagna Round at Misano, Alvaro Bautista has confirmed that he will not continue with Ducati in 2026.

The 40-year-old, who won back-to-back World Superbike titles in 2022 and 2023 with Ducati, signed a contract to keep him with the Bologna factory for 2025, and which contained an option for 2026.

While Bautista told Ducati he was happy to continue with them into 2026, the Italian brand did not want to continue on the same terms and therefore exercised their option to cancel the contract for 2026.

Alvaro Bautista explains Ducati exit

“For sure, I had signed with Ducati for 2025 and 2026,” Alvaro Bautista told WorldSBK.com ahead of this weekend’s Emilia-Romagna round, “but with the possibility of breaking the contract from my side and also from their side.

“I communicated to the team that, from my side, I was happy and wanted to continue because I felt that, even with the rules (Bautista is referring here to the minimum weight rules that mean he has to run ballast weight on the bike), we’re working and arriving at a good performance.

“Then, Ducati said, from their side, they don’t want to accept the conditions we signed so they broke the agreement; that’s all I can say because if you want to know more about this, you have to ask Ducati.”

Despite approaching his 41st birthday in October, Bautista insists that his intention is to keep racing next year.

“My intention is to keep racing because I feel good,” he said.

“I think, physically and mentally, I feel ready, I feel strong enough to fight for good results.”

He added that he’s not concerned about finding another ride.

“I’m not really worried because I think I feel good and competitive on the bike and still my target is to keep racing,” he said.

“The conditions that me and Ducati had signed is no more. I’m free for next year.

“At the moment, I’m a Ducati rider and want to do the best; to have a good weekend here at our home race and that’s all I can say.”