Defending WorldSBK Champion Alvaro Bautista has announced he will continue racing with the Aruba.it Ducati for at least one more season.

The Spaniard - also a 125GP World Champion - revealed his plans in an extraordinary press conference called prior to this weekend’s fourth round of the 2023 WorldSBK season at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.

The 38-year old is currently in the midst of a dominant run of form on the Aruba.it Ducati Panigale V4 R with eight victories from nine races. They follow on from a similarly formidable title-winning 2022 campaign with the Italian manufacturer that yielded 16 victories and Ducati’s first WorldSBK title since 2011.

While speculation prior to the press conference erred towards potential confirmation that he would retire, he spoke of keeping his family in mind when making the decision to continue for one more season. He will then make a decision on his future beyond 2024 further down the line.

A veteran of the GP paddock - where he spent 16 seasons, including nine in the MotoGP class - Bautista made the high-profile switch to WorldSBK in 2019, immediately making an impact on the then-new Ducati Panigale V4 R by winning the first 11 races of the season.

However, a decline in form - punctuated by a series of crashes - paved the way for Jonathan Rea to steal a march on him, consigning him to the runners-up spot. The following season he joined Honda’s new HRC-run factory WorldSBK effort but struggled to muster strong results, achieving just three podiums over the two seasons.

His return to Ducati ahead of the 2022 WorldSBK season, however, revitalised his fortunes, emerging clear of main rivals Rea and Toprak Razgatlioglu to win the title - his first World Championship success since his 2006 125GP triumph - by a comfortable margin.

Bautista currently holds a 56 point lead over Razgatlioglu with nine rounds remaining.