WorldSBK champion Alvaro Bautista not ‘motivated’ by current 2027 options

Alvaro Bautista says he has options for 2027, but none that “motivate” him to continue competing.

Bautista is currently enduring his worst WorldSBK season to date, with only one podium to his name after 10 rounds. That matches his podium total from 2020, his first year with Honda, when he scored less points than he currently has in 2026, but at least that season he had better performance than his team-mate, Leon Haslam, even if he crashed more.

This year, Bautista has been completely out-classed by Yari Montella at Barni Ducati, and has sometimes been the least competitive of all the Ducati riders on the grid.

The lack of performance, as well as his 41 years of age, have made finding a ride for 2027 complicated for Bautista, who will be replaced at Barni by Xavi Vierge.

Options appear to be there for the two-time WorldSBK champion, but none that he wants to take up, he says.

“At the moment, I don’t have any clear proposals that motivate me to keep racing,” Alvaro Bautista told WorldSBK.com ahead of the Estoril Round.

“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.”

Should Bautista not find a deal to his liking for next season, the Estoril WorldSBK this weekend could be his penultimate race at FIM World Championship level, having first raced in 2002 in the 125cc World Championship before going full-time in the same class a year later.