Currently nine Ducatis in the World Superbike field: will the pack shrink or grow?

As things stand, Sandro Carusi’s Yamaha privateer team, MotoXRacing, will not be competing next year; the team boss is considering a return to the Italian Championship (CIV). This would see the grid shrink by two riders, but the Chinese manufacturer CF Moto is poised to enter the Superbike World Championship during the 2027 season, which would make up for this loss.

There are just two uncertainties remaining in the Ducati camp. With nine bikes, the Borgo Panigale-based manufacturer currently accounts for almost half of the 22-rider field; whether this contingent will shrink, grow or remain the same for 2027 remains to be seen.

At Aruba, Barni, Marc VDS, Advocates and Motocorsa, the riders and number of bikes have been finalised; whether the MGM Ducati team will continue depends on its main sponsor, Optical Express. If the British firm extends its sponsorship, Tarran Mackenzie’s SBK career will also continue.

Go Eleven Ducati is looking to expand

The future of Go Eleven is also uncertain, though for different reasons. Gianni Ramello’s team returned to Ducati in 2019 and has since won several races, with Michael Ruben Rinaldi and Andrea Iannone. If Lorenzo Baldassarri hadn’t crashed so often, he would be much higher up the World Championship standings than in 6th place.

For years, the team has been working towards expanding from one to two riders, but this would require an additional budget of around one million euros. Go Eleven has long been promoting snack manufacturer Pata, which supports numerous riders and teams in the SBK paddock. Company boss Remo Gobbi can envisage expanding his involvement; he watched the second Superbike main race in Cremona from the Go Eleven pit. Anyone who saw him applauding as Baldassarri overtook the Yamaha works riders – whose team he is the main sponsor and namesake of – will find it easy to believe that his budget for 2027 could be reallocated. The decision will be made within the next two weeks.

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