After winning two World Superbike titles with Ducati, Alvaro Bautista has announced that he will not ride for the Italian manufacturer in 2026.

Alvaro Bautista has now confirmed that he will exit the Aruba.it Racing - Ducati squad at the end of the 2025 World Superbike season.

It had been reported that the Italian manufacturer had contacted the two-time World Superbike Champion to inform him of their decision to part ways.

However, no official confirmation had been provided until Bautista confirmed the rumours ahead of the Pirelli Emilia-Romagna World Superbike Round at the Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli.

"As I said at the last round, my intention is to keep racing because I feel good," Bautista confirmed to WorldSBK.com.

"I think physically and mentally, I feel ready, I feel strong enough to fight for good results. For sure, I had signed with Ducati for ’25 and ’26, 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, 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.

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

There have since been reports that Bautista and his manager are eyeing a sensational return to Honda after a previous stint with the Japanese manufacturer in 2020 and 2021.