ASAKA, Japan – Alvaro Bautista will depart Ducati to join the new Honda MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship factory effort next year.

The 34-year-old World Superbike rookie has scored 15 wins this year, but sits second behind Kawasaki’s Jonathan Rea in the championship standings because of his inconsistency in the second half of the season.

“I am really happy, because I believe a lot in the new project with HRC,” said Bautista. “They want to come back to the World Superbike championship as a full factory team, so this has motivated me a lot. To join the HRC factory is very important, as they are an important factory and want to win in WorldSBK again. The challenge for next year will be very difficult, but for sure, I will try and use my experience in the World Superbike championship from this season to develop the bike and hopefully, fight for victories.”

Bautista spent nine seasons in MotoGP riding for Suzuki, Honda, Aprilia and Ducati, but failed to win. His switch to World Superbike this season revitalized his career, opening the door for him to join the new Honda World Superbike factory program.

“We are very happy to welcome Alvaro Bautista to our WSBK racing project for next year,” said Honda Racing Corp. President Yoshishige Nomura. “His arrival in the Honda racing family underlines our strong commitment to compete at full force in every motorsport category, fighting to achieve top sporting results and looking for the best technological innovations, in order to offer our fans and customers fun, joy and excellent products.

“Alvaro is a very fast, experienced rider who has already shown his strong racing attitude and competitiveness in his GP years and in his first season in the WSBK Championship. We are confident that he will make a significant contribution to the growth and development of our project in the exciting and challenging Superbike World Championship.”