Former Tech3 KTM MotoGP rider Iker Lecuona has been named as two-time World Superbike champion Alvaro Bautista's replacement in Ducati's factory team in the production series.
The 25-year-old Lecuona will partner current championship leader Nicolo Bulega, also 25, and has been signed on an apparent one-year deal to ride what is widely regarded as the strongest package in the world championship.
Lecuona had spent two seasons in MotoGP with Tech3 in 2020 and 2021, as team-mate to first Miguel Oliveira and then Danilo Petrucci, before he and Petrucci were ushered out in favour of an all-rookie line-up.
He was picked up by Honda for its long-struggling WSBK effort and is currently in his fourth season in the line-up, all four spent with fellow Moto2 graduate Xavi Vierge as his team-mate.
Both Lecuona and Vierge have had the occasional high point at Honda, but both have been beset by injuries, with Lecuona in particular spending a lot of time on the sidelines. He ended up averaging 4.9 points per start to Vierge's 4.3, and scored two podiums to Vierge's one.
But Lecuona was also used by Honda as a capable MotoGP injury stand-in, and was part of its Suzuka 8 Hour-winning line-up in 2022.
Honda, which is widely understood to have already recruited Moto2 frontrunner Jake Dixon to its WSBK works team for 2026 and is currently deliberating on Dixon's team-mate, thanked Lecuona "for his dedication and professionalism" during his tenure.
Ducati decided earlier in this year not to pick up two-time champion Bautista's option for 2025, as his form had declined last year and worsened further in 2025 - something he has repeatedly attributed to a change in the series' weight rules, which he has felt unfairly targeted by.
