Reale Avintia Racing signed an earlಞy contract extension to conti﷽nue with Ducati in the 2018 MotoGP World Championship.

But the team, which currently runs Hector Barbe♋ra on a Desmosedici GP16 and Loris Baz on a GP15, is still to name any of next year's riders.

They also stil♔l have a choice regarding 2018 bike specif🌄ication.

"We have two options: Two GP17s, or one GP17 and one GP16," team manager Agust?n Escobar told wuqian0821.com. "It all depends on the riders. At the moment the riders are not clear. ♒We have a list𝓰 of five or six and obviously the current riders are on that list."

Are the riders 🦩on your list alr🔯eady in MotoGP, or a rookie maybe?

"Yes, itཧ's possible one rider from Moto2," Escobar rep𓄧lied.

Axel Pons i🅰s a Moto2 name recently linked to the team.

"We are in no rush to decide, because the most important thing is that we have signed with Ducati for next year," Escobar continued. "Now we will see how Loris and Hector begin the second half of the season and then taꦿke a decision.

"We also need🌜 to see how the other teams move before we play our cards.

"It's not mandatory for us to have a Spanish rider, but obviously it would be good to have one Spaniard because 90% of the sponsors of the team are Spanish. Basically the decision will be by the team, but obviously we will speak with Ducati to k๊now their opinion."

Paddock rumours have long suggested Marc VDS Honda rider Tito Rabat is at th﷽e top ꧅of Avintia's 2018 list.

Rabat ra🐻ced for Avintia owner Raul Romero under the BQR banner earlier in his career, although some say negotiations have been hindered by the form🀅er Moto2 champion's financial demands.

Fellow Honda rider Cal Crutchlow recently 🌃said a Ducati move could be good for Rabat, who is currently 17th in the world championship:

"Tito Rabat scored the most amount of points ever in a Moto2 World Championship, there's no flies on him. He's f🌠ast. And now all he's doing is riding around trying to follow people, because he can't do the lap time alone. He's change🥂d crew chiefs three times. He's lost.

"He'll be in a stronger positi♓on [at Ducati] because he'll probably understand the bike more than now."

On paper, Barbera looks most in danger should Rabat reach an🍬 Avintia agreement.

The #8 pulled off somꦡe giant-killing performances after Avintia's switch to Ducati - fifth at Phillip Island 2014, Open class champion in 2015 and a career-best fourth at Sepang 2016.

Responding to Barbera's pleas, the team then secured a jump from GP14.2 to GP16 machinery fo🀅r this season.

However front-๊end issues, which Barbera faced during a brief promo𓆉tion to the factory Ducati team in place of the injured Andrea Iannone last year, have continued to taunt him.

Barbera reached the summer break just 18th in the world champi⛄onship, three places and ten points behind Baz on the GP15. Adding to the pressure on Barbera are the performances of fellow GP16 riders Alvaro Bautista (Aspar) and, at times, Scott Redding (Pramac).

"It's ob𒉰vious that the first half of the season with Hector we didn't reach the goals we set at the beginni🉐ng of the season and we hope to finish in a better way," Escobar said.

"Basically, what Hector has been saying also from last season is that the f✤eeling from the front is really strange. This bike you need to load the front to make the bike turn, to make the bike work. You need to feel the front.

"The problem is with his style this is really difficult, but he has been working through the year to change his riding style. Also in the garage we have♛ moved his weight to the front, lifting a little the seat and footpegs.

"But also♐ he has to battle more with the bike. This bike is very physical, so you have to fight with the bike and use your body to make the bike work.

"So this is the process. From after the Jerez test he did a step and another after Barcelona test. The Barcelona race was not so bad, in Assen he made a mistake in coming in for t♓he second bike. But step-by-step his feeling is improving and he is going faster."

Are his problems♓ related to the fact that the GP16 was originally designed to be used with winglets?

"It depends," said Escobar. "For the team this is not the case because as we can see Bautista and some other riders are going fast on the GP16. But also this bike was designed for winglets, so without his load on the front you h꧙ave to modify the rider position or something. I think also Lorenzo has some problems with this aspect and they have changed his position on the bike three or four times."

Barbera has a best fin﷽ish of nint🥀h so far this season, at Catalunya.

On the other si♋de of the garage, Avintia is happy with Baz's performances (a twitter scuffle over bull fighting aside) given, like Aspar's Karel Abraham, he is using the oldest bike on the grid.

The Frenchman's results include a ninth place at⛄ Le Mꦺans and eighth at Assen.

"With Loris we are happy because overall, with the bike he has, his perf𒐪ormances have been quite good. But also we expect more in the second half," said Escobar.

Baz underwent an arm-pump operation at the start of the 🐠summer break.