Alvaro Bautista update on his 2025 Ducati WSBK development

Alvaro Bautista says he had no “new items” to test at the Jerez WorldSBK test, and focused on setup instead.

Although Ducati has become the strongest manufacturer in WorldSBK in recent years – winning back-to-back titles with Alvaro Bautista, and taking victories with satellite riders Andrea Iannone and Danilo Petrucci last year – its current Panigale V4 R is now in its final year, with a new generation set to replace it for the 2026 season.

Perhaps as a result of the stage the current bike is at in its life cycle, there was an absence of new material for Ducati’s factory riders to try in Jerez, according to Bautista.

“Basically, yesterday we didn’t use any new items from Ducati,” Bautista told WorldSBK.com.

“For sure Ducati worked a lot during the winter, but not for some items, just with the base we have to improve a little bit in some areas, especially on the electronics side.”

With no new parts to try, Bautista was just continuing with the setup work he began in the post-season tests last year.

“Basically, yesterday we continued the work we started in November where we changed absolutely all the bike; a new setup trying to find another way to go fast because we need to make a step forward from 2024, and we tried a different way to work,” he said.

“So, yesterday we continued this work – we didn’t touch many things because with these conditions we had with the wind it was difficult to understand if it can be better or not.

“Basically, we just made some kilometres just trying to adapt the body, the feeling, the mind, because after three months you need to restart again. So, it was like the first day to make a good ‘shakedown’ and don’t make mistakes.”

The one new piece that Ducati is expected to introduce for 2025 is a new exhaust, and Bautista said he will get his first chance to try it at next week’s test in Portimao.

“I will test it for the first time in Portimao,” he said.

“Fortunately we don’t have many days between this test and the next one, so let’s see because it will be the last test in Europe, then we will fly to Australia for the first race, so it will be important to get more feedback.

“I hope the weather is good there and [we will] try to find a good setup, a good base for the first round.”

Bautista and his teammate Nicolo Bulega both elected not to ride on Thursday at the test, the Spaniard explaining that this was down to the limited number of test days – without running on Thursday, Bulega and Bautista (and everyone else who didn’t run on Thursday) each have a day now that they can use later in the year when perhaps conditions will be better.

“Today in the rain, we didn’t want to throw away a day of testing because we don’t have a lot during the season, so no need to ride in these conditions, in wet conditions,” he said.

“We need now to make a better setup and find a good setup for the dry. So, not the best way to start the preseason, but it could have been worse if we could not ride in both days.”

Bautista was also slightly displeased with the conditions that faced the riders on Wednesday: dry, but windy.

“For sure it has been really two difficult days,” he said.

“Yesterday we were lucky that it didn’t rain, but it was too windy. Sincerely, I didn’t feel so comfortable riding in those conditions, but at least it was dry so we could make some first kilometres of the preseason, to recover the feeling after three months without riding these bikes.

“So, it was positive to get back again to riding, but for sure it was not the best conditions possible.”