Major shake-up in the World Superbike Championship: two careers come to an end – Jack Miller stands to benefit

For four years, Xavier Vierge and Iker Lecuona were on a par in the Honda works team. We can see just how important the bike is this season: whilst Lecuona won his first race at Donington Park on the works Ducati and finished second a further 19 times (!) and sits unchallenged in second place in the World Championship behind serial winner and team-mate Nicolo Bulega, Vierge, as the second-best Yamaha rider, can only be found in 14th place overall – with not even a quarter of the points his compatriot has.

When Vierge (29) was told by Yamaha that his place in the factory team for 2027 could also go to the outgoing MotoGP rider Jack Miller, he naturally started looking around for other options.

Xavier Vierge wünscht sich eine Ducati

Foto: gold & goose

As SPEEDWEEK.com has learnt, Vierge has now reached an agreement with Marco Barnabo’s private Ducati team and will ride for Barni Racing next year alongside World Championship third-place finisher Yari Montella (26).

This move triggers a seismic shift in the Superbike World Championship – with massive consequences for no fewer than three riders. Vierge’s arrival at Barni spells the end of Alvaro Bautista’s (41) career, as he has no Plan B should he lose this seat. Barni Ducati would also have been the Plan B for Danilo Petrucci (35); the BMW works rider will have to make way for Brad Binder at the ROKiT team after this season.

But it’s not all bad news, as the World Superbike Championship is set to lose two of its best-known names in Bautista and Petrucci. Vierge’s move from Yamaha to Barni Ducati also means that a place with the Japanese manufacturer becomes available for Jack Miller. Until now, the Blues had been in a moral quandary: whilst the Superbike management would have liked to continue with Vierge – who consistently delivers performances on a par with Yamaha’s number one, Andrea Locatelli – the MotoGP side was pushing hard for the charismatic Australian, who has a much greater public profile. Vierge’s move has resolved the dilemma: now Yamaha and Miller simply need to reach a financial agreement, as the 31-year-old’s original demand for an annual salary of 1 million euros would blow the SBK budget. The situation is simple: either Miller accepts what Yamaha is offering him, or he won’t get the seat and his career will be over.

Franco Morbidelli is another MotoGP rider set to join the World Superbike Championship; the Italian will ride for the Aruba Ducati works team in 2027. And Alex Rins is also still in the running; the Spaniard is hoping to secure a ride with Go Eleven Ducati.