Published reports indicate that Danilo Petrucci is not the only Superbike World Championship rider set to race in MotoAmerica’s Superbike class in 2027. GPOne, an Italian-based website with close ties to that country’s two-wheel motorsport industry, is reporting that Alvaro Bautista is part of a deal that would see Strack Racing shift from Yamaha to Ducati and field a Panigale V4 R for the two-time World Champion.
Bautista’s results plummeted when World Superbike instituted a minimum combined rider-weight limit, with Bautista’s machine requiring several kilos of ballast to comply with the new requirements. At approximately 128 pounds, Bautista is one of the lightest riders on the grid, and Bautista has made no secret of his opinion that the new rule, designed to balance performance among the bikes, effectively ended his career in World Superbike. Bautista lost his factory Ducati ride and went to the satellite Barni squad, where his performances did not improve. As MotoAmerica’s Superbike class does not have a minimum combined rider-machine weight regulation, the series would be one where Bautista would not be penalized for his weight.
Strack Racing was in the fight for the MotoAmerica Superbike title right to the end, with an Attack Performance-built Yamaha YZF-R1 ridden by two-time MotoAmerica Supersport Champion Mathew Scholtz. But Scholtz is leaving the Strack team for 2027, with reports indicating that he will join Petrucci on the Attack Performance Progressive team. Petrucci, a winner in MotoGP, World Superbike, MotoAmerica Superbike and the Dakar Rally, is currently in the U.S., according to GPOne, and has posted video on his social media accounts of himself driving through the Arizona desert near Podium Club at Attessa, where Attack just finished two days of testing.
A post on GPOne this morning read:
“According to what we have learned in the last few hours, Strack wants to switch to Ducati, and talks with the Borgo Panigale manufacturer have been underway for weeks to establish the financial commitment required to make a fresh start with Ducati.
“The American manager therefore wants the Panigale V4 for 2027, and the rider entrusted with it would be Alvaro Bautista. Strack is well aware of the potential the #19 could have on the Panigale V4 without ballast, since MotoAmerica has no combined bike-and-rider weight limit.”
Read the GPOne report here.
Other reports link Bautista to the CFMOTO World Superbike project, but Bautista in other interviews points out that he would not be likely to actually race the new Chinese machine until the end of the 2027 season. However, according to a report on a popular Japanese racing site, Bautista says the pay for developing the CFMOTO Superbike would be significantly greater than the pay for racing MotoAmerica Superbike.
But make no mistake: Bautista is bitter about the World Superbike weight rule. In a different GPOne interview, this one at the EICMA motorcycle show, Bautista said: “With everything that’s happened, I’ve even received some offers to deliver pizza! I’ve learned to ride with lots of weight. I’ve even added it to my resume… I can carry seven kilos extra.”
