Two-time World Superbike Champion Alvaro Bautista intends to race in the 2026 World Superbike Championship.

There have been rumours for the last few seasons surrounding the future of Alvaro Bautista. However, the Spaniard has once again squashed any rumours that suggested he would retire at the end of 2025.

The two-time World Superbike Champion confirmed that he plans on racing for the Aruba.it Racing - Ducati squad in the 2026 World Superbike Championship.

According to Bautista, he has signed a deal with Ducati for 2026 and has notified his team that he intends to race next season, but he needs the team to agree to keep him on board.

"To be honest, I have an agreement with Ducati for 2025 and 2026," Bautista told WorldSBK.com ahead of the Czech Republic World Superbike Round.

"I just need to say yes from my side and the team needs to say yes from theirs, but the agreement is already signed.

"I have confirmed with the team that I want to keep racing in 2026, and now I’m just waiting for their answer."

After a mixed bag of results in the first two rounds of the season, Bautista is back in decent form. The 40-year-old has featured on the podium in the last five races this season.

Bautista currently finds himself third in the World Superbike Championship, but he is 39 points behind Nicolo Bulega, who remains at the top of the standings.

"After Cremona, we’re in a good state, building up good confidence on the bike," Bautista explained.

"Fortunately the bike is working really well this year on the track, at least very consistent. It’s been nice getting similar feedback from different tracks.

"This track is very different from Cremona, and the weather will be a bit different, so just going to try to start on Friday working with the bike and pick up on the feeling I’ve had in previous rounds.

"We’ll work to try to understand the new tyres Pirelli is bringing in order to understand which are the best for race day.”