The world turned upside down: Ducati wins in the All Japan Superbike, the King abdicates

In recent years, under the Liberty Media umbrella, there has been a lot of talk about the possibility of running MotoGP and Formula 1 on the same weekend at the same track. In Japan, this has been standard practice for over 30 years with the so-called “2&4 Race,” where various circuits (Suzuka, Motegi, etc.) host All Japan Superbike and Super Formula or Super GT events on the same days. An event of this kind opened the 2026 All Japan season at Mobility Resort Motegi, with the top class JSB1000 (Superbike) delivering its first verdicts and, in motorcycle terms, it’s all about Italy.

Claiming pole position and a dominant victory over 20 race laps was Ryo Mizuno with the (older) Panigale V4 R fielded by the Ducati Team Kagayama. Now in the third year of the project, nothing seems to be missing to aim for a title never before won by a foreign manufacturer in the Land of the Rising Sun’s championship. It could have happened already last year, if not for Mizuno’s serious injury during a test at SUGO (with a V4 R literally destroyed). Back to full fitness, Mizuno dominated at Motegi, conceding the spotlight to his rivals only in the early stages thanks to a relentless Tetsuta Nagashima, second at the flag and author of the holeshot on a Honda Fireblade for the Dunlop Racing Team with Yahagi, the outfit spearheading Dunlop tire development in All Japan.

The HRC MotoGP and Superbike test rider will face his final full season this year, with participation already slated for the Suzuka 8 Hours in the Superstock class with the NCXX Racing team led by Tetsuya Harada, while Ducati Team Kagayama’s entry in the “race of races” has yet to be confirmed. This year the bike is no longer red, but sports a tricolor white-red-blue livery at the behest of title sponsor SDG (Showa Denki Group), which also backs the HARC-PRO team—third at Motegi with Yuki Kunii, returning home after last year’s Moto2 stint.

Proof that everything has truly changed in All Japan this year comes from the zero scored by Katsuyuki Nakasuga, the King of the category, who announced in recent days that he will retire at the end of 2026. The 13-time Japanese Superbike Champion made an early mistake on lap one: from third, he ran wide at the final chicane and, on the exit onto the pit straight, suffered a heavy highside that also took out the blameless Kazuki Ito (SAKURAI Honda). No physical consequences for the Yamaha Factory standard-bearer, but he begins his final year with a costly zero for the championship. All the more so with the Mizuno-Ducati-Kagayama trio looking so dominant.