Alvaro Bautista has “no idea about future, Ducati haven’t asked me”

Alvaro Bautista was surprisingly beaten at Misano as Toprak Razgatlioglu took the BMW to victory in all three WorldSBK races.

Bautista’s domination in 2023 has not transferred over to this season, in fact, Bautista has been struggling for consistency throughout as team-mate Nicolo Bulega also out-performed the reigning champion at Misano.

Bautista’s future remains one of the biggest talking points, but the Spaniard has given little away.

Ducati Corse general manager Gigi Dall’Igna was in attendance at Misano, but Bautista said it had no impact on the current state of play.

“I speak with Gigi all the time, after all the tests and races,” explained Bautista. “We are always in touch, not only when he comes to races.

“He knows what I need and request. The fact he’s here doesn’t change anything about the information. I know that there will be a new model, but I haven’t seen it yet.

“Honestly, I would like to have something new now that I’m racing; next year is too far away for me. Who knows what can happen?"

Although he is very close to Razgatlioglu and Bulega in the championship, there’s a real chance Bautista fails to make it three titles in a row this season.

And that is driving Bautista to want more, not the need of securing a new contract.

Bautista added: “I said this weekend was important because we were coming from strange weekends like Australia, Barcelona is a tricky track and Assen with the mixed conditions.

“This weekend was like a more normal situation. It was important to recover the feeling. I didn’t. I feel that we’re working.

“I said after Misano, but that could be tomorrow, or in November; after Misano, we have a long time.

“I haven’t spoken with anybody, and we have a month before the next race. If I have something clear, I will do it. If not, I’ll wait.

“I’d like to understand why I don’t have the feeling I had last year, and this is the main problem, not my decision about the future.”

Going a step further about his future, Bautista admitted there are no deadlines to sort out whether he will stay with Ducati or possibly retire.

Bautista said: “At the moment, I don’t have any deadlines for my future. In my mind, there’s some questions and the main question is why I don’t have the same confidence as last year and what I need to improve?

“About my future, I have no idea and Ducati or Aruba haven’t asked me what I want to do. Maybe this month, before Donington, we’ll speak or not.

“I’m more worried about recovering my confidence on the bike than deciding my future.”