Superbike: New Tests Before the Restart—BMW, Honda and Bimota Fire Up Their Engines

In September the championship resumes and some SBK teams have hit the track to be ready: useful work for the present and also for the future.

The last World Superbike race was held on Sunday, July 12 at Donington Park, and we will have to wait until Saturday, September 5 to see the riders do battle again in Race 1 at Magny-Cours. The summer break has been very long, but the teams have not just been waiting around. Some have worked “at home” and others chose to carry out track tests to better prepare for the restart of racing in France.

The ROKiT BMW Motorrad and Honda HRC teams rode at Magny-Cours during the week of Ferragosto (the Elf Marc VDS team with Sam Lowes was there too) and in recent days they went to Estoril for two more days of testing. On Tuesday the 25th and Wednesday the 26th they were in action at the circuit that will host the penultimate round of the 2026 WorldSBK calendar.

If they found very hot weather in France, temperatures in Portugal were lower and there was also a bit of rain to complicate the plans of the two squads, which nonetheless tried to make the most of the two days to work and improve. On Tuesday the track was damp in the morning, but it dried in the afternoon, while on Wednesday it was completely wet in the morning session and dry again in the afternoon, though with worse grip than the previous day.

Miguel Oliveira is contesting his first season in the World Superbike Championship, so riding at Estoril with the BMW M 1000 RR was important. It was also important for Danilo Petrucci, who for the first time rode there with the German bike after years aboard the Barni Spark team’s Ducati Panigale V4 R.

The Honda HRC riders are both rookies and are riding CBR1000RR-R Fireblade SPs that we have not yet seen achieve notable results. Jake Dixon and Somkiat Chantra completed 134 and 175 laps respectively. Riding in wet track conditions was crucial for them as well. The team left Estoril with a good amount of data to use in trying to improve the bike.

The Bimota by Kawasaki Racing Team has also decided to carry out a test before the restart of the 2026 Superbike Championship. Today Alex Lowes, Axel Bassani, and test rider Xavi Fores are lapping at Navarra, a venue that hosted an SBK round in 2021 and was then no longer confirmed on the calendar.

Lowes and Bassani have the chance to rediscover some feeling and pace with the KB998 Rimini after the long summer break. For the two factory riders, the test serves more for this than for trying new solutions. Team manager Guim Roda was clear: "We chose Navarra to avoid the temptation to work only on a specific setup. The idea is to use test engines and give the riders the laps they need to enjoy the experience and push to the limit without too much complexity. Xavi Fores will also do some laps, to accumulate track time and stay in shape for the subsequent tests that will prepare us for the 2027 season."