SBK, 2027 has already begun: testing at Jerez, another Ducati on top

Two days of SBK testing in Andalusia, with only a few teams present but plenty of work on track: here's how today went.

The 2026 Superbike World Championship wrapped up last weekend, but several teams stayed on at Jerez to work towards 2027. Testing is taking place today and tomorrow, naturally with Michelin tyres, as Sunday marked the official end of Pirelli's tenure as the category's sole tyre supplier. There is also a focus on carbon-ceramic brake discs, which will be mandatory for everyone next year.

The fastest time today was set by the only Ducati SBK rider in attendance, Sam Lowes. The British rider from the Elf Marc VDS team posted a best lap of 1'38"790 and completed a total of 79 laps. Fresh from a very strong weekend, in which he claimed three podiums at the final round, the former Moto2 and MotoGP rider aimed to rack up as many miles as possible on the new Michelin tyres, gathering a wealth of data that will also be useful to the other Ducati teams in future tests.

Miguel Oliveira finished second in today's standings, more than half a second behind Lowes' best time. The Portuguese rider from the ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK team also completed plenty of laps (80), with support from tester Michael van der Mark, who posted the sixth-fastest time today, in the work at Jerez. The M 1000 RR will be updated for 2027 and will get a new chassis that should make it easier to ride. The impact of the Michelin tyres on the German bike remains to be seen, too.

Jonathan Rea posted the third-fastest time, 927 thousandths of a second off the pace, and was the fastest Honda rider on track today. The HRC tester, who had been riding a CBR1000RR-R Fireblade in a "camouflage" livery since the morning to help conceal some technical updates, finished ahead of full-time riders Somkiat Chantra and Jake Dixon, who were fourth and fifth respectively. As this is a test, the lap times only tell part of the story; it would also be useful to know the specific work each rider carried out. For now, the main priority is to gain experience with the new Michelin tyres, brake discs and any other updates.

Also worth noting is the presence of the AS Blu Cru team from the World Supersport Championship, with Aldi Mahendra and Jeremy Alcoba. Alcoba made his debut on the Yamaha R9 after spending the previous two seasons with Manuel Puccetti's Kawasaki WorldSSP team.