(Motorsport-Total.com) – The dominance of Superbike World Champion Alvaro Bautista is history. After the Spanish Ducati rider won 75 percent of all races last year on his way to his second world championship title, he is struggling much harder this year. Most recently he had to settle for third place on Ducati’s parade circuit in Misano, while World Championship rival Toprak Razgatlioglu celebrated three convincing victories with his BMW (according to Bautista, Ducati has gotten worse and his opponents have improved).

Bautista increased the pressure on his employer at Ducati’s home race in Misano and wanted improvements to keep up with Razgatlioglu. Because when you see that Razgatlioglu was able to win in Barcelona, ​​Assen and Misano, then from Ducati’s point of view that does not bode well for the upcoming WSBK weekends in Donington and Most.

Ducati is aware that it needs to improve from a technical point of view. The Italians are planning a comprehensive technical update for the Panigale V4R, which includes a conventional swingarm.

Ducati technical director Marco Zambenedetti confirmed in an exclusive interview with Motorsport-Total.comthat the current machine will be the last WSBK homologation bike with a single-sided swing arm for the time being. Ducati expects a number of advantages from switching to the conventional swing arm, such as better handling and less weight (more background information).

Will the technical update affect Alvaro Bautista’s decision?

The big question is whether the technical offensive comes too late to motivate Bautista to continue. In Misano, Bautista spoke about his future and repeated that the feeling when driving will decide whether he sticks around for another year. And recently, Bautista didn’t have a good feeling.

© Ducati

The two-time Superbike World Champion had a mixed weekend in front of the Ducati officials. However, Misano was a good opportunity for Bautista to pass on his comments directly to Ducati racing director Luigi Dall’Igna.

© Ducati

“I am in constant contact with Gigi, not only when he comes to the races. He knows very well what I feel and what I need,” explains Bautista, aware that it is not easy to make a big step in the middle of the season in the Superbike World Championship.

According to Alvaro Bautista, Ducati has explored the limits of the current V4R

“It’s difficult to suddenly make a big improvement in this championship because you’re using the production bike,” Bautista notes. “I think we’ve reached the limit of the current bike, so we need to make further improvements on the production bike.”

In addition to the additional weight on Bautista’s machine, Ducati has been set back this year by the reduced fuel consumption and the switch to fuels with a 40 percent bio content. Powerful engines are naturally more affected by these changes than less powerful units (which Ducati has problems with).

© Ducati

With the 2025 version of the Panigale V4R, Ducati can adapt better to the new circumstances right from the start. “I know we’re getting a new model. But I haven’t seen it yet. I would like to have something new now. Next year is still too far away for me,” commented Bautista, looking at the development in Borgo Panigale.