Here is the thing about Alvaro Bautista: when the two-time MOTUL FIM Superbike World Champion says he still has the speed, you had better listen. Racing for his future with the Barni Spark Racing Team as the 2026 season draws to a close, the Spanish veteran delivered a weekend of absolute grit at the Circuito Estoril. It ended in heartbreak, sure, but it also proved beyond any doubt that the #19 machine can still mix it up at the very sharp end of the grid.
The weekend started from the depths of the fourth row after a 1’35.184s on Saturday morning left him back in P12. But what a launch he had when the lights went out. In Race 1, Bautista monstered the start to grab P10 by the opening lap. By lap 6, he had picked off Sam Lowes of the ELF Marc VDS Racing Team and Lorenzo Baldassarri from Team GoEleven6. His teammate Yari Montella eventually reeled him in on lap 17 to pinch P9, but the recovery drive was already shouting a warning to the rest of the field.
Believe me, if I felt that I didn’t have the speed, or that I couldn’t be competitive, I’d go home, but I feel that I have the speed and can land good results,
Sunday morning's Tissot Superpole Race was even better. From P12, Bautista sliced up to P6 on the very first lap, then muscled past Axel Bassani of the bimota by Kawasaki Racing Team on lap 2 to break into the top five. He managed his Ducati Panigale V4R as the fuel load dropped, holding a three-tenths gap on lap 4 and stretching it out to nearly two seconds by the checkered flag. It was his best result since Balaton Park, setting the stage for an explosive Race 2.
Starting near the front finally paid off early on Sunday afternoon. Bautista was scrapping for third by the end of the opening lap with rookie Alberto Surra of Motocorsa Racing. After trading blows with Bassani, who briefly stole P4 on lap 3, Bautista sent him packing right back down the start/finish straight into Turn 1. For nine laps, he stalked the rookie, tightening the screw until he finally made the pass stick on lap 13, pulling out a seven-lap advantage of seven tenths by lap 16. And then, disaster at heavy-braking Turn 1. The front washed out, ruining what would have been his first podium since Phillip Island.
“In Race 2, starting from the front makes your life easier. The first lap for me was a question of survival; the bike was taking me outside every corner,” Bautista explained afterward. “Once those laps had passed, I saw I was in fourth... Then, in Turn 1, I lost the front. I didn’t did anything strange or different from other laps, but I just lost the front. I think we need to be proud regardless. We showed our speed, we fought all round, we never gave up, and we will fight until the end. We showed our potential, but it was a shame that I crashed and couldn’t finish the war.”
Without a ride secured for next season and having wrestled all year to adapt to the bike formerly used by Danilo Petrucci of the ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team—a machine very different from the Factory Ducati mounts of his past—Bautista's future remains unwritten. But as he looks ahead to his home round at the Circuito de Jerez - Angel Nieto in Andalucia, where he boasts five wins and nine podiums on one of his absolute favourite hunting grounds, his message is crystal clear.
“Believe me, if I felt that I didn’t have the speed, or that I couldn’t be competitive, I’d go home, but I feel that I have the speed and can land good results,” Bautista stated. “I have the speed and will never give up. The day that I don’t feel the fight inside me, I’ll stay at home.”
