Alvaro Bautista looks set to remain in the WorldSBK series for 2020 and hopes to sign a new deal before the summer break begins this time next week.

Nothing is yet set in concrete but Ducati boss Paolo Ciabatti wants to keep his factory riders in the current habitats and Danilo Petrucci was confirmed in the factory MotoGP last Thursday in Germany.

“For sure at the moment I am happy here and we are speaking to sign for next season but at the moment nothing official,” said Bautista at Donington.

I hope to resolve everything before the summer break, for Laguna. But at the moment nothing is official.”

Bautista's early-season form had everyone but the most die-hard Jonathan Rea fans expecting him to wrap it up with a couple of meetings in hand but three mistakes in three consecutive weekends have seen the Irishman claw back 85 points to now lead by 24.

The little Spaniard is not unduly worried, though, and says the successes of the opening rounds were never expected.

“Sincerely, from the beginning, what I said always, I did not expect to start like I did,” he said. “It is our first year in WorldSBK and we have discovered many things that are new for us.

For sure the bike has to improve because I remember everybody saying, ‘Ducati is the best bike’ but I do not think the same. I mean, we have a good engine but racing is not only the engine.

"You have to do the corner and if you see TV, my bike moves a lot, and the other Ducati riders are struggling. We are working and our target is not to win the championship in the first season, we just want to work and do the best. And the races, unfortunately, are not mathematics.

"Until the end everything can happen. I am not worried about the situation I just want to resolve the problems and just to keep working as we are doing. And try to enjoy the bike.”