Ducati announced this past week that Spaniard Iker Lecuona has signed a new two-year contract to ride for their factory World Superbike team.

A few eyebrows were raised when he was chosen to fill the vacant seat following Alvaro Bautista’s departure; however, it was easy to forget Lecuona’s talent as he toiled on the uncompetitive Fireblade for the past four seasons.

After just two third-placed finishes in four years with Honda, Lecouna has already stepped on to the podium 20 times this season. Whilst he will be frustrated that 19 of those have been in second-place behind Nicolo Bulega, his seemingly MotoGP bound teammate has been on another level to everybody.

Pushing hard behind Bulega, and finally getting the better of him once at Donington, is no small achievement. Remaining so focused and consistent in his position, rather than continually going over the limit and crashing, is a measure of his professionalism.

If his signing ahead of the 2026 season was a surprise to some, Ducati’s decision to retain his services for 2027 and 2028 surely will not be.

One more seat to fill?

The two Aruba.it Racing Ducati seats are the most desirable on the World Superbike grid currently.

They have absolutely dominated the championship with the new Ducati Panigale V4R and, with BMW being the only manufacturer bringing out a significantly upgraded bike for 2027, it’s almost guaranteed that being in the factory team next season will give you a huge opportunity to become a World Champion.

We are still awaiting confirmation of Bulega’s signing with the VR46 team, but that appears to be a done-deal and that means there will still be one of the two plumb seats available following Lecuona’s contract signing.

The obvious candidates will be the riders that are left standing once the game of MotoGP Musical Chairs has come to an end. Maverick Viñales doesn’t seem minded to continue racing, but Brad Binder, Jack Miller, Alex Rins and Frankie Mordidelli will all be in the hunt – perhaps with the latter being boosted by a natural desire of Ducati to keep an Italian rider in the team.

Miguel Olivera has also been linked with the ride even though he has the option to stay with BMW.