One of the big pieces of the WorldSBK rider puzzle has fallen into place, with Iker Lecuona confirmed to be replacing Alvaro Bautista in the factory Aruba.It Ducati squad for 2026.
The Spaniard—who joined the Moto2 ranks at 16, had two years in MotoGP in the Tech3 KTM team and moved to Honda’s factory WorldSBK squad in 2022—will partner incumbent Nicolo Bulega on the new Ducati Panigale V4 R.
Bautista will thus move to the Barni Racing Ducati team in place of Danilo Petrucci, who will take Toprak Razgatlioglu’s place in the factory RoKIT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK team.
Lecuona’s move to the factory Ducati team thus clears the way for current Moto2 star Jake Dixon’s long-rumored switch back to production-derived racing in the factory Honda team, the Brit having cut his teeth in the British Superbike Championship before moving to Moto2 in 2017, with official confirmation from HRC expected soon. CN
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