Here we are at the end of a wild inaugural campaign for the FIM Sportbike World Championship. The Circuito de Jerez - Angel Nieto in Andalucia plays host to this grand finale, serving up a home Pirelli Spanish Round for the two absolute protagonists of the season. Behind them, a savage scramble across the top ten is waiting to blow wide open.
At the sharp end, David Salvador (Team ProDina Kawasaki XCI) leads the championship, but his cushion over Xavi Artigas (MTM Kawasaki) is down to a hair-raising 12 points with 50 left on the table. That is practically nothing in this category, where podium scraps usually involve packs of machines fighting tooth and nail. Salvador knows the heartache of this circuit all too well; back in 2025 during the WorldSSP300 finale here, he took P2 in Race 1 behind eventual Champion Benat Fernandez (Kove Racing Team 109), only to get slapped with a last-lap irresponsible riding penalty by FIM WorldSBK Stewards in Race 2 that dropped him down to a P16 finish. Still, he and teammate Antonio Torres secured the Teams' title that year, a crown they want back. To wrap up the Riders’ title as early as Race 1, Salvador has to outscore Artigas by at least 14 points. If he cannot pull that off, it goes right down to the final race.
Further down the order, Australian rider Carter Thompson (Team BrCorse) has caught absolute fire over the last four rounds, grabbing his maiden win in Race 2 at Cremona to lock down third in the Riders’ Championship. He sits just ahead of Torres, who bagged two podiums here in WorldSSP300 over the past two seasons. With practically no margin between them, nobody is giving an inch. Meanwhile, British rider Fenton Seabright (PHR Performance Triumph) saw his podium streak snap last time out after four strong rounds, and he desperately needs a return to the rostrum to defend fifth from a hungry pack sitting just four points back. Belgian rider Ferre Fleerackers (Track & Trades Wixx Racing) is right there in P6, spearheading the Suzuki charge on his GSX-8R after returning to the podium at Cremona for the first time since Assen. Matteo Vannucci (Revo-M2) holds P7 on his Aprilia machine, seven points behind the Belgian, looking to recover his early-season pace without any pressure holding him back.
That early-season momentum has similarly evaporated for two-time WorldSSP300 Champion Jeffrey Buis, who managed a meager five points over the last two rounds and needs to throw everything he has at the Spanish circuit. Italian rider Bruno Ieraci (CM Triumph Factory Racing) finds himself in a matching slump down in ninth, despite flashing real brilliance earlier with a emotional home win at Misano on his Triumph machine.
Just outside the top ten, Dutch rider Loris Veneman (MTM Kawasaki) is forced to sit out this final round after crashing hard at Turn 3 in Race 2 at Cremona. He will be substituted by Spanish rider Roberto Fernandez, who grabbed his first point earlier this year at Aragon. Alvaro Fuertes (Deza-Box 77 Racing Team) smells blood, arriving at his home round hot off a brilliant P4 at Cremona that puts him within four points of the #71. Just two points behind Fuertes sits British Triumph rider Harrison Dessoy (PHR Performance Triumph), fresh off taking his second WorldSPB podium with a gutsy P2 in Race 1 in Italy. Elsewhere on the grid, Arai Agaska (ProGP NitiRacing) is currently declared unfit and awaiting medical clearance, while French rider Hugo De Cancellis (Kove Racing Team 109) continues stepping in for German rider Phillip Tonn aboard the Kove 450RR alongside Benat Fernandez. Rounding out the grid as the lone wildcard of the weekend, inaugural WorldSSP300 Champion Marc Garcia (Yamaha MS Racing FIMLA AD78) makes a welcome return to the paddock for the championship's historic first-ever season finale.
