SBK | Bautista hypothesis instead of Melandri

With the Championship still in the pits for the summer break until mid-September, among the series derivatives there is obviously a very interesting driver's market this year.

After the sensational changeover between Tom Sykes and Leon Haslam in the KRT, with the 2013 world champion not yet having an official seat for next season, the situation at Ducati is the one that takes center stage.

Davies and Melandri are both out of contract this year but Borgo Panigale has not yet made the line-up for 2019 official.

However, Ducati Corse sporting director Paolo Ciabatti stated, live with Simon Crafar of motogp.com on the occasion of the Austrian GP, ​​that MotoGP™ rider Álvaro Bautista represents "one of the options we are considering for next year in the team with the Panigale V4”.

The former 125GP world champion could thus join the British Chaz Davies, who is about to be confirmed: a surprise move, given that Ducati, the sponsors and the team had declared their intention to continue with Marco Melandri.

A 2019 season could therefore be looming without top Italian riders given that Lorenzo Savadori is also waiting for a renewal with Aprilia.