Ducati confirm Bautista stance: "Alvaro is our first choice"

Ducati have again confirmed that they wish to keep hold of Alvaro Bautista in the factory team for the 2025 WorldSBK campaign.

Bautista is still undecided on whether to stay or possibly retire, but Ducati have reportedly made the Spaniard an offer.

And speaking at Most on Friday, Marco Zambenedetti, Technical Coordinator at Ducati Corse was keen to point out that keeping the Spaniard is their main aim.

Zambenedetti said: "Alvaro is for sure our first choice, we have won a lot with him, and we are giving him the maximum support that we can. 

"We haven’t stopped working on any area of the bike, it is a continuous improvement, but the most important thing is the dynamics of the bike, and we are working together to try and give him our best. 

"For sure others are most competitive this year, making it more difficult but we will try until the end.” 

Bautista's future is directly linked to the likes of Danilo Petrucci and Andrea Iannone, both of whom want a full factory bike next season.

Iannone has in particular made it clear that joining a factory team is his aim.

A hot topic again in the Czech Republic, Iannone's Team Manager at GoEleven Ducati, Denis Sacchetti said: “What I can say is that we are talking with him about our future. 

"Every rider wants to go in a factory team, and I think that is normal and that Andrea deserves an opportunity in a factory team but that is not by us but by Ducati and Bautista because I think until Bautista makes a decision we have to wait. 

"Maybe he can stay with us, maybe not, we will see. There is an agreement with him about many things that I don’t want to speak about. 

"It is normal that he would like to ride a factory bike.”