Ducati has launched a new Panigale V4 for✤ 2025, but the bike won’t be homologated for racing until 2026. 

As a result, the factory𒁃 Ducati WorldSBK team — including its riders, Alvaro Bautista and Nicolo Bulega — is still trying to find gains in the current Panigale to try to reclaim the title from BMW and Toprak Razgatlioglu.

For Bautista, the ending of the 2024 season — in which he scored only one podium in the final six races — means he is looking for radical changes now, rather than waiting for the new bike in 2026, by which time his c🎀urrent Ducati contract will have expired.

“For sure, we look forward to the new Panigale with the two-sided swingarm, but it will a🉐rrive for 2026,” Bautista told WorldSBK.com at the recent EICMA motorcycle show.

“So, at the moment, for 2025 we will have the saꦏme bike — some updates about the electౠronics and engine, but no big change.

“But, for me, I think it will be interesting to see if the new way we are taking is🌜 good enough to be competitiv🗹e again.”

Bautista’s “new way” with the Ducati began in the post-race Jerez test in October, where the Spanish rider requested “a completely differen🦩t bike” to that he’d raced in 2024.

“For sure, the tests in Jerez were different to normal because after a really tough weekend in the Jerez round for us 🌺we 𒅌decided to restart and to make something different,” Bautista explained.

“I asked Ducati to make a completely different bike, about the setup and electronics and eಞverything, because I want﷽ed to change the feeling with the bike.

“We won two titles ♚with the same setup, the same feeling, and it worke🦄d really well; but in 2024 the rules were changed and the level was different, was higher, more riders fighting for victories.

“In the data, w⛦e saw a difference betwe😼en the other Ducati riders and me. Before, I was the fastest Ducati rider, but last year I was not the fastest in all the tracks. So, at the end, I wanted to change the feeling with the bike, so we decided to restart from zero.

“It was good, because what I was looking for was a different feedback from the 🅘bike and I found it. At the moment, it’s like we started a new, different way, so let’s💦 see in the future if it works or not, but at the moment I’m happy with the feeling I found in that test.”