#EmiliaRomagnaWorldSBK Preview: Álvaro Bautista – “I’m free for next year.”

WorldSBK are at Misano this weekend for the Emilia Romagna Round of the season. It is the third track to hold the most races in WorldSBK history tied with Donington Park with only Assen and Philip Island ahead of it. Misano comes after a thrilling weekend in Most. Nicolò Bulega fought back after a massive high side on the Friday to give Toprak Razgatlıoğlu a run for his money with taking the win in Race 2. The gap coming down to 0.027s over the line. 

Razgatlıoğlu is making the move to MotoGP in 2026 which was confirmed before the weekend to Prima Pramac Yamaha. Nicolò Bulega has announced he’s staying with Aruba.It Racing Ducati. Whilst teammate Álvaro Bautista has been rumoured to be in discussion to go elsewhere with talks of Yamaha and Honda talking to the rider after Ducati confirm that they don’t want to continue with the rider for 2026.

Bautista has won 6 times here, just two short of the record that Jonathan Rea holds at this circuit. Bautista has three podiums in the MotoGP paddock here at Misano and he won in the 250cc class in 2008, he came third the following year in the same class and finished third in the MotoGP class in 2012, behind Jorge Lorenzo and Valentino Rossi. It was his maiden MotoGP podium finish. Bautista has been in the headlines ahead of this weekend, wanting to continue with the team however it was confirmed on Thursday that Ducati want to go in a different direction.

Bautista gave his accounts of what happened with the team: “My intention is to keep racing because I feel good. 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 to 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 free for next year.”

Razgatlıoğlu has 5 wins at Misano with a hat trick of wins from pole last year making him look like the rider to beat this year. His record at Misano is impressive with 12 podiums in 17 races making this one of his best tracks – the only one beating it is Portimão with 16.

Razgatlıoğlu spoke about his move to MotoGP in 2026: “On one side, I feel sad; on the other, I’m so happy. I’m sad because I feel like WorldSBK is part of my family. I know everyone, I’m really happy with the paddock. I’ll move to MotoGP and I’m happy for this. I’ll miss everyone! Not only the racing but especially the teams; I’m always talking to the teams. I’m really good friends with everyone and I’ll miss everyone. This paddock is relaxed, and everyone is friendly. Moving to MotoGP as a three-time WorldSBK Champion is my biggest dream for this year.”

Last year Bulega finished 2nd in all three races missing out to Razgatlıoğlu. His best results in Misano for the WorldSSP class were that he won one and came second in 2023 and the year before he was 3rd in both races. 

Bulega started with talking about his new contract for 2026 and that he’s now the test rider for Ducati in MotoGP as well:”I’m really happy to continue with my team, because our goal from the first moment talking with my manager was to stay here in WorldSBK with Ducati. I’ve been here since 2022, and I’m happy to stay here next year as well. The opportunity to test on the MotoGP bike was very important for me, as a rider I always want to try and find the limit of how much I can grow as a rider.”

He continued on to then talk about his chances in Misano: “Winning here at Misano could be even more special than at Cremona because this is more of a home round, I live very close to here in Misano, I have many friends coming to support me so a win here could be very special.”

Danilo Petrucci’s first two races in the WorldSBK class were both crashes before finishing 7th in Race 2 in 2023. Last year he finished 9th on two occasions and 6th. In MotoGP, his best result was 2nd behind Marc Márquez.

Petrucci was asked about the possibility of being moved to the factory Aruba.It Ducati Racing Team from the Barni Spark Racing Team: “At the moment, I’m focused on my job. I think there will be a lot of a talks this weekend. I don’t know if I’m good for that bike; if they’re looking for an experienced rider like me or a younger rider. Unfortunately, I’m not young anymore! I’m doing everything I can to be as fast as possible. I can talk with everyone but, at the same time, I feel really good in my team.”