SBK | Bautista: “I am in talks with Ducati, but I have not signed”

To renew or not to renew, that is the question. The Superbike market depends on the decision of Alvaro Bautista, whose contract with Ducati expires this year. The reigning world champion has never hidden his intention to continue racing and everything suggests that we are on the verge of receiving the news of the renewal.

Yet, the official announcement has not yet arrived and, having reached the Portimao round, the Spaniard is still the linchpin of the rider market, which will move according to the decision he will make. Or that has been made. So what will be the fate of Bautista and Ducati in 2025? The rider himself explains, silencing all the rumors that have been circulating in recent weeks.

Already during the Most round, the rider from Madrid had expressed his desire to continue and it seems that everything is “set” for Bautista to be able to race in red next year too: “If you read all the media, it’s crazy because one day I’ve already signed, the next day, my bike is for another rider. The next day we agree together and then we don’t find an agreement. It’s crazy!”.

“We started talking after Most and we are in negotiations,” reveals the reigning champion, who after the Czech round had joked that he wanted to announce his future at World Ducati Week, scheduled for the end of July. This didn’t happen and, despite various rumors, nothing has yet been made official. “It’s clear that I want the best for me and Ducati wants the best for them. We’re not arguing, but we’re talking. Everything you see on social media is false. We haven’t signed yet, but we’re on the right track.”

Without a certainty, Bautista arrives in Portimao focused on the weekend, which he approaches with positivity after a round in Most in which he began to find the feeling with the Panigale V4R. “I have good memories of last year because I remember it was a difficult weekend. Especially on Sunday, there were two great battles against Toprak, and I beat him, both times, on the last corner; one on the inside, the other on the outside”.

The memories of last year remain, however, because this season the situation is different. Bautista is the pursuer, will the gradual rediscovery of the feeling be enough to stop a Toprak Razgatlioglu who seems enlightened? “This year the situation is different, especially because we don’t have the same performance as last year. After Most, the feeling with the bike has improved a lot and I’m confident that this weekend can help me maintain this improvement. It could be fun to interrupt Toprak’s streak of victories! At the moment I don’t feel in a position to interrupt it, but anything can happen. If we can reach our best performance, we’ll see if we can fight against him or not”.