These are red-hot hours for the Superbike market in view of 2026, and among the hot names is Alvaro Bautista's. As anticipated this morning, the Spanish rider will no longer be in the factory Aruba team next year, but that doesn't mean he'll no longer ride a Ducati.
In fact, there could be an unprecedented scenario for #19, to say the least, because Barni wants him riding the Panigale V4 in place of Danilo Petrucci, who switched to BMW. It was a lightning-fast negotiation between Marco Barnabò and Simone Battistella. In the past few hours, they've laid the groundwork for this agreement that would allow the Spanish rider to continue in the World SBK with the Red next year. However, the negotiations are still confidential.
There are two aspects to be defined: first, the technical support that Bautista will have at his disposal, given that the goal is to have a full factory package; then there's the financial aspect, considering that the Spanish rider will have to deal with a reduction in salary compared to what he receives now.
The fact remains that with Petrucci's farewell, Barni has identified Alvaro Bautista as the perfect replacement for the rider from Terni. It might be true that age doesn't play in favor of the Spanish rider, but the latter has the necessary experience without forgetting that, in Ducati, he's always been fighting for top positions having, among other things, won two titles.
So the choice was made for security purpsoes, with Bautista relaunching the challenge in the SBK in an entirely new capacity. Should the deal go through, according to what has been learned, Ducati could let the him try out the new Panigale V4 as early as next week during tests at Aragon: a gesture of recognition and one that would allow Alvaro to start getting to know the new bike, which might allow him to be ready for the late October test in Jerez wearing Barni's colors.
Instead, if everything ends in nothing, Michele Pirro will be testing the 2026 Superbike in Aragon. So, let's see how the negotiations between Bautista and Barni evolve, during a week that promises to be nothing short of decisive.