That 2026 MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship season has barely closed its books, but the paddock is already spinning forward into an unpredictable campaign. With new rules, new brakes, new tyres, and new riders shaking up the grid, testing is going to be everything as teams grapple with a completely different landscape.
The action kicks off immediately. On Thursday, 22nd and Friday, 23rd October, a smaller-than-usual contingent will hit the track at Jerez. Factory squads Honda and BMW are joined by Marc VDS Ducati and Team GoEleven for this initial running, before everyone returns to Jerez for another two-day run on Wednesday, 25th and Thursday, 26th November.
December brings a proper plot twist with a test at Valencia on Wednesday, 9th and Thursday, 10th December. This session is set to deliver our very first glimpse of big-name arrivals crossing over from MotoGP, with Jack Miller, Franco Morbidelli, and Brad Binder all slated to jump onto their new machines. With Valencia also making its long-awaited return to the WorldSBK calendar for the first time since 2010, the mileage there will be pure gold.
January turns the intensity right up with an expanded calendar of three tests instead of the usual two. Jerez hosts a two-day run again on Wednesday, 20th and Thursday, 21st January. Then things get frantic the following week with a double-header across two different venues: Valencia hosts teams on Monday, 25th and Tuesday, 26th January to prep for April's race, and Portimao follows immediately on Thursday, 28th and Friday, 29th January. Since test days are strictly limited, every manufacturer is going to be running wildly different programmes to find an edge.
Finally, the paddock packs its crates for the long haul to Australia. Phillip Island plays host to the season opener from the 19th-21st February, preceded by the traditional two-day Official Test on the Monday and Tuesday right before the racing gets underway.
