What a stunning turnaround. Carter Thompson of Team BrCorse finished third in the maiden campaign of the FIM Sportbike World Championship, a remarkable result considering how brutally difficult his early adaptation to the Yamaha R7 machine proved to be. The sole Australian rider in the field fought through early growing pains and machine gremlins before turning the season completely on its head with five podiums over the final five rounds, capped off by a win in each of the final weekends.
The initial phase of the year was a genuine test of patience. After finishing as runner-up in the final World Supersport 300 campaign atop a Kawasaki Ninja 400 in 2025, stepping into the brand new WorldSPB category brought immediate challenges. Though he scored points in the first four races, his first top ten only arrived in the final race at Assen with a ninth place. Round 3 at Most delivered a fifth-place finish in Race 2, but a chaotic multi-rider crash in Race 1—which involved teammate Marco Gaggi, Juan Risueno of Pons Motosport Italika Racing, and Harrison Dessoy of PHR Performance Triumph—kept him trapped ninth in the Riders’ Championship.
Everything clicked once the series hit MotorLand Aragon for round four, a venue where Thompson had previously triumphed in WorldSSP300. He blasted out of the blocks with a maiden podium in second place, sparking an incredible run of form that included a podium double at Misano, another runner-up finish at Magny-Cours, and a maiden pole and victory at Cremona. By the time he arrived in Spain, he sat third in the standings.
The season finale at the Circuito de Jerez - Angel Nieto in Andalucia brought both drama and redemption. Starting from the front row in second, Thompson was locked in a podium battle on Lap 9 of Race 1 when he braked slightly late into Turn 13, lost composure, and made contact with the inside of then Championship leader David Salvador of Team ProDina Kawasaki XCI. The Spaniard was sent sprawling out of the race, and the #50 rider copped a Long Lap Penalty for irresponsible riding from the FIM WorldSBK Stewards, ultimately crossing the line in sixth.
Race 2, however, was a masterclass. Launching from fifth on the grid, Thompson grabbed third by the second lap, though the leader was already eight tenths up the road. As Salvador battled title rival Xavi Artigas of MTM Kawasaki—who held a 13-point advantage in the standings following the Race 1 clash—Thompson unleashed pure speed. He set the fastest lap of the race on Lap 3 with a 1’46.716s, erased the gap to the leaders in a flash, and picked them clean on Lap 4. From there, he sailed into the distance to take the chequered flag just over four and a half seconds clear of the chasing pack.
Reflecting on a wild year and his emphatic final performance, Thompson said: “It was a very nice race; it was a bit of a struggle with the weather conditions, the drops of rain and the white flag in the first laps. I’m really happy with Race 2; we just struggled for grip. When we hit clean air, I pushed hard. It’s great to finish third in the Championship considering where we were at the start of the year; I wouldn’t have believed you if you told me. I can’t thank the team and Yamaha enough for all the hard work they put in on the bike. We’ve come a long way.”
