Gerloff tops WorldSBK Friday at Most as Oncu and Salvador claim poles

Round Five – Most – Friday

WorldSBK Friday Practice

Garrett Gerloff sprung the first major surprise of the Czech Round at Most, putting the Kawasaki WorldSBK Team on top of the Friday WorldSBK timesheets with a late 1m30.791s in FP2.

A busy Most pit lane as WorldSBK, WorldSSP and WorldSPB riders worked through a cool and changeable Friday at the Czech venue.

The American’s lap was good enough to edge championship leader Nicolo Bulega by 0.066-seconds, with Sam Lowes third for ELF Marc VDS Ducati, Iker Lecuona fourth for Aruba.it Ducati, and Alex Lowes fifth on the bimota KB998 Rimini.

The result had more substance than the usual Friday flyer. Gerloff had crashed at Turn 1 in FP1 and admitted he was not particularly comfortable in the morning, but Kawasaki found a better window for FP2 and the track offered more confidence as the afternoon wore on. Gerloff said he crossed the line hoping the lap might be good enough for the top five, only to see P1 on his board next time around.

“I felt like it was a good lap, and when I went across the finish line and I saw a 1’30 lap time, I was like ‘I hope it’s a top five time’ – because I couldn’t remember what a good lap was here. Then, the next lap around, I saw on my board ‘P1!’ When I went into the pits I asked if I was using a race tyre, not a softer SC0 tyre, and they told me it was a race tyre.”

Garrett Gerloff leads Alberto Surra and company through Most, the American later springing a Friday surprise by putting Kawasaki on top.

That made the lap all the more encouraging for Kawasaki, particularly on a day when the skies threatened rain, track temperatures stayed low, and several riders had their Friday programmes interrupted by crashes, technical issues, or lap cancellations.

Bulega had topped FP1 with a 1m31.130s and was again right in the mix early in FP2, but his afternoon became messy. The Ducati rider first ran off at Turn 6, then crashed at Turn 1 only a few minutes later. The fall itself was minor for the rider, but the damage to the Panigale V4R was enough to cost him more than half the session.

“The only downside of the day was the crash because it didn’t allow me to do many laps in the afternoon. Otherwise, I’m satisfied because we still managed to gather important data ahead of the races. Tomorrow in FP3, we’ll try to put that to good use.”

Nicolo Bulega was quick enough for second overall at Most on Friday, despite an FP2 crash that robbed him of valuable afternoon mileage.

Team-mate Iker Lecuona made a strong step between sessions, improving to fourth in FP2 and finishing the day only 0.208-seconds from Gerloff. Lecuona said the afternoon feeling had improved significantly compared with FP1, giving him confidence that the Aruba.it Ducati crew had found a direction for the rest of the weekend.

Sam Lowes completed the top three despite losing mileage to a technical issue in FP1. The Marc VDS rider was only 0.142-seconds from the top and also completed a longer run in the afternoon, suggesting his Friday pace had more depth than a single-lap number alone.

Sam Lowes recovered from a disrupted FP1 to end Friday third overall for ELF Marc VDS Ducati.

The two Bimotas also had an encouraging opening day. Alex Lowes crashed early in FP1 at Turn 20 but returned after a rapid rebuild from the BbKRT crew, then improved to fifth overall in FP2. Lowes said the bike felt good in the afternoon and that he expects further progress if conditions remain dry on Saturday.

“I enjoyed FP2, so I am looking forward to tomorrow. I think I can make some good progress on Saturday if it is dry. I always like to go out and be quite fast, but I was obviously a bit excited this morning in FP1 and crashed.”

Alex Lowes heads a WorldSBK train through Most, with Michael van der Mark, Yuki Kunii, Tarran Mackenzie and Danilo Petrucci in pursuit during Friday practice.

Axel Bassani was seventh overall and completed a long run in FP2, although he felt the Bimota was still missing something after several laps.

Axel Bassani works through the Most detail with the bimota by Kawasaki Racing Team after finishing Friday seventh overall.

With both KB998 Rimini entries inside the top seven, it was a useful Friday for the Italian project on a circuit that rewards stability through direction changes and confidence on corner entry.

Danilo Petrucci put the ROKiT BMW sixth overall on Friday at Most, splitting the two Bimotas on the combined timesheets.

Danilo Petrucci split the two Bimotas in sixth on the ROKiT BMW, while Yari Montella was eighth for Barni Spark Ducati, just 0.458-seconds from the top. Montella’s Friday was built around race pace and tyre consumption rather than chasing a single lap, but he felt the final position did not reflect his potential.

“I’m a bit disappointed with the final position because I don’t think it reflects our real potential on track, but today the result was not the priority. We mainly worked on race pace and tyre consumption and, looking towards Sunday, this gives us important data to work with.”

Yari Montella was eighth on Friday for Barni Spark Racing Team, but felt his race pace was stronger than the final position suggested.

Lorenzo Baldassarri was ninth for Team Go Eleven Ducati after a day that showed promise despite a technical issue in FP2. He had been fifth in FP1 and was again running strongly in the afternoon before a problem under braking into Turn 1 sent him back to the pits. The issue was resolved late enough for him to complete a couple more laps, and Baldassarri said he felt confident on what he described as an unusual, old-school circuit.

“Positive feelings on this first day at Most! This afternoon, unfortunately, we were stopped by a little technical problem, which meant we weren’t able to complete many laps, but fortunately the team was able to fix it and I could complete a couple more laps. I’m very confident for tomorrow; we need to stay focused and keep pushing and improving.”

Michael van der Mark rounded out the top ten on his WorldSBK return with BMW, standing in for Miguel Oliveira, while Xavi Vierge was the best of the Yamahas in 11th. Vierge said the key positive was that his feeling with the R1 had returned, describing it as feeling like “my bike” again after a more difficult recent run.

Garrett Gerloff and the Kawasaki crew turned around a difficult FP1 to end Friday fastest at Most.

Andrea Locatelli was 14th for Pata Maxus Yamaha, still carrying some pain from the gravel rash suffered in his Balaton Race Two crash, but he found better rhythm in FP2 and felt the team had a clearer idea of what to work on overnight.

Stefano Manzi and Remy Gardner were 15th and 16th for GYTR GRT Yamaha. Manzi described it as one of his better Fridays of the season, while Gardner was not satisfied with the position but said the team had focused on race pace and set-up rather than chasing outright lap time.

“The position isn’t where we want to be, but overall it wasn’t a bad Friday. We had a solid FP1 this morning and hoped to make another step in the afternoon, but our main focus was on race pace and setup work rather than chasing lap times. There’s still work to do to find more pace, but I’m confident that with a good Superpole we can put ourselves in a position to fight for strong results in the races.”

Remy Gardner focused on race pace rather than a time attack on Friday, ending the opening day 16th overall for GYTR GRT Yamaha.

Alvaro Bautista was 13th for Barni Ducati and identified direction changes as the main area to improve. The Spaniard said he was arriving slightly late in transitions and having to cover extra distance, making Turn 1 and the following sequence particularly costly if he missed the first reference.

“I struggled a bit, especially with getting the bike to turn quickly; in direction changes I’m always slightly late, which forces me to cover extra distance. We need to find something that helps me make the bike turn better, so I can be more efficient and less tired in direction changes. Here the first corner is crucial; it’s a continuous section and if you get it wrong, you can’t really recover for the rest of the lap.”

Honda HRC had a learning day with both riders new to Most. Somkiat Chantra improved by more than 1.3-seconds between sessions, ending Friday 21st, while Yuki Kunii also cut more than a second from his morning benchmark but remained 22nd. Kunii enjoyed the technical nature of the circuit but said arm pump had limited his ability to push in some areas.

WorldSBK Combined FP1/FP2 Results

Pos	Rider	Bike	Time/Gap
1	G. Gerloff	Kaw	1m30.791
2	N. Bulega	Duc	+0.066
3	S. Lowes	Duc	+0.142
4	I. Lecuona	Duc	+0.208
5	A. Lowes	Bim	+0.275
6	D. Petrucci	BMW	+0.426
7	A. Bassani	Bim	+0.453
8	Y. Montella	Duc	+0.458
9	L. Baldassarri	Duc	+0.497
10	M. van der Mark	BMW	+0.563
11	X. Vierge	Yam	+0.752
12	A. Surra	Duc	+0.764
13	A. Bautista	Duc	+0.847
14	A. Locatelli	Yam	+0.897
15	S. Manzi	Yam	+0.972
16	R. Gardner	Yam	+1.030
17	T. Mackenzie	Duc	+1.050
18	B. Sofuoglu	Yam	+1.099
19	T. Bridewell	Duc	+1.250
20	M. Rato	Yam	+1.845
21	S. Chantra	Hon	+1.915
22	Y. Kunii	Hon	+2.989

WorldSBK Championship Points

Pos	Rider	Points
1	N. Bulega	248
2	I. Lecuona	166
3	S. Lowes	99
4	M. Oliveira	85
5	Y. Montella	82
6	A. Lowes	82
7	A. Bautista	81
8	L. Baldassarri	78
9	A. Bassani	67
10	A. Locatelli	53
11	D. Petrucci	46
12	T. Mackenzie	45
13	X. Vierge	44
14	G. Gerloff	40
15	A. Surra	34
16	R. Gardner	23
17	S. Manzi	15
18	T. Bridewell	8
19	T. Nagashima	7
20	J. Rea	4
21	B. Sofuoglu	4
22	M. Rato	2
23	S. Chantra	2
24	R. Vickers	1

WorldSSP

Oncu breaks lap record, Bayliss strong

Can Oncu claimed WorldSSP pole at Most with a new lap record, putting the Pata Yamaha Ten Kate Racing R9 on top with a 1m33.802s. It was his second pole of the season and a sizeable reduction of the previous Most WorldSSP Superpole benchmark, which stood at 1m34.126s.

Can Oncu had the front wheel in the air and the lap record in his pocket after claiming WorldSSP pole at Most.

Oncu had already been second in Free Practice, but he controlled the Superpole session from the early stages and ultimately headed a Yamaha one-two from Lucas Mahias by just 0.050-seconds. The Turkish rider credited Ten Kate for giving him more comfort with the R9 at each round and said the target now is to convert recent podium form into a first win of 2026.

“I am very happy, first of all I want to say thanks to Ten Kate because every race they are giving me a better bike and I am more comfortable every time. I will push very hard for tomorrow’s race and we are quite confident, so hopefully we can push for the win after being on the podium in the last few races.”

Can Oncu celebrates a record-breaking WorldSSP pole at Most after taking the Pata Yamaha Ten Kate R9 to a 1m33.802s.

Valentin Debise was third fastest on the ZXMOTO 820RR, only 0.082-seconds from pole, but the Frenchman was handed a three-place grid penalty for slow riding in Free Practice. That promotes Albert Arenas to the front row, despite the championship leader having never previously ridden at Most.

Valentin Debise was third fastest in WorldSSP Superpole on the ZXMOTO 820RR, but a three-place grid penalty pushes him back to row two.

Oli Bayliss produced one of the more encouraging Australian performances of the day. The PTR Triumph rider qualified fifth fastest, just 0.189-seconds from pole, and should start from fourth once Debise’s penalty is applied. That places Bayliss at the head of the second row and within striking distance if he can launch cleanly.

Roberto Garcia was sixth for GMT94 Yamaha, backing up the momentum from his debut WorldSSP podium at Balaton Park, while Tom Booth-Amos put the second PTR Triumph seventh. Aldi Mahendra qualified eighth for AS BLU CRU Yamaha, ahead of Simon Jespersen and Federico Caricasulo.

The spread at the front was tight, with the top four covered by less than a tenth and the top five by less than two-tenths. That suggests Race 1 is unlikely to be decided by raw single-lap pace alone, particularly if the same cool and changeable conditions continue into Saturday.

Jaume Masia had a more muted Friday, qualifying 12th on the Orelac Racing Ducati and 0.708-seconds from pole. The Spaniard will have work to do early in Race 1, especially with the front two rows so tightly packed and several strong starters ahead of him.

Japan’s Yuki Okamoto will start 26th on the second Pata Yamaha Ten Kate Racing machine, while Maria Herrera was not listed in the session and Mattia Casadei failed to qualify after crashing early at Turn 15 and being unable to return to the track.

WorldSSP Tissot Superpole

WorldSSP Championship Points

Pos

Rider

Points

1	A. Arenas	150
2	J. Masia	117
3	V. Debise	97
4	P. Oettl	89
5	C. Oncu	88
6	L. Mahias	65
7	J. Alcoba	65
8	R. Garcia	57
9	T. Booth-Amos	57
10	M. Ferrari	56
11	A. Zaccone	53
12	A. Mahendra	41
13	S. Jespersen	34
14	M. Casadei	26
15	D. Aegerter	21
16	O. Bayliss	20
17	C. Perolari	16
18	O. Vostatek	16
19	F. Farioli	14
20	A. Giombini	13
21	J. Whatley	13
22	F. Caricasulo	10
23	X. Cardelus	2

WorldSPB

Salvador takes maiden pole, Thompson P9

David Salvador claimed his first WorldSPB pole position at Most, edging Matteo Vannucci by 0.085-seconds with a 1m39.473s. Loris Veneman completed the front row for MTM Kawasaki, while Fenton Seabright missed the front row by only 0.006-seconds after putting his Triumph fourth.

David Salvador converted his Friday pace into a maiden WorldSPB pole, edging Matteo Vannucci by less than a tenth.

Salvador said the result was particularly important at Most, where track position into the opening corners can make a large difference in the early laps. He also underlined the value of starting from the first two rows at a circuit where passing can be awkward once the field settles into rhythm.

“This is my first pole position in a World Championship so I’m really happy. We did a great job together with my teammate and the whole team. At this circuit it’s very important to start from the first two rows so this result is really important. Now we can focus on tomorrow because I’m ready for the battle.”

David Salvador celebrates his first WorldSPB pole position after topping Superpole at Most for Team ProDina Kawasaki XCI.

Antonio Torres was fifth on the second Team ProDina Kawasaki, ahead of Kas Beekmans on the leading Suzuki. Xavi Artigas and Harrison Dessoy filled seventh and eighth, while Australian Carter Thompson produced his best qualifying performance of the season to put the Team BrCorse Yamaha ninth.

Matteo Vannucci was just 0.085-seconds from WorldSPB pole at Most, putting the Revo-M2 Aprilia on the front row.

Thompson was the leading Yamaha rider and also recorded the highest speed trap figure of the session at 232.1 km/h, a useful sign on a weekend where the R7s are working against a varied mix of machinery. Benat Fernandez completed the top ten on the Kove, ensuring six manufacturers were represented inside the top ten.

The Track & Trades Wixx Racing Suzuki pair arrived at Most after winning the previous round’s races, but Jeffrey Buis and Ferre Fleerackers could only qualify 11th and 14th, respectively. Both will need to make early ground in Saturday’s 12-lap Race 1.

There was also a second Australian in the field, with T. Aksu qualifying 28th on the PATA AG Motorsport Italia Yamaha. Two riders failed to qualify, while Tommaso Benetti did not set a time.

The session was busy from the opening minutes, with Turn 1 again accounting for a long list of lap cancellations. There were also early yellow flags at Turn 2, where G. Cazard and S. Zuda both had incidents, further interrupting what was already a tight and congested Superpole.

WorldSPB Tissot Superpole

Pos

Rider

Bike

Time/Gap

Max

1	D. Salvador	Kaw	1m39.473	224.1
2	M. Vannucci	Apr	+0.085	229.7
3	L. Veneman	Kaw	+0.147	227.8
4	F. Seabright	Tri	+0.153	227.8
5	A. Torres	Kaw	+0.330	225.0
6	K. Beekmans	Suz	+0.384	228.8
7	X. Artigas	Kaw	+0.612	227.3
8	H. Dessoy	Tri	+0.732	226.9
9	C. Thompson	Yam	+0.795	232.1
10	B. Fernandez	Kov	+0.867	229.2
11	J. Buis	Suz	+0.982	219.6
12	J. Risueno	Kaw	+1.055	225.5
13	B. Ieraci	Tri	+1.083	222.7
14	F. Fleerackers	Suz	+1.087	222.3
15	E. Bartolini	Tri	+1.192	229.7
16	M. Gaggi	Yam	+1.224	227.3
17	J. Osuna	Kaw	+1.228	223.6
18	A. Fuertes	Kaw	+1.346	223.2
19	M. Gennai	Yam	+1.470	227.3
20	F. Mulya	Yam	+1.648	229.7
21	M. Sorrenti	Apr	+1.854	229.2
22	A. Agaska	Yam	+1.974	225.0
23	G. Sanchez	Yam	+2.114	226.4
24	H. Maier	Yam	+2.309	223.2
25	S. Zuda	Tri	+2.476	216.6
26	I. Peristeras	Apr	+2.871	226.9
27	J. Correa	Kaw	+2.975	219.2
28	T. Aksu	Yam	+2.999	221.8
29	T. Alonso	Yam	+3.476	220.5
30	A. Di Persio	Yam	+3.640	223.2
31	G. Cazard	Yam	+3.819	221.8
NQ	T. Sovicka	Yam	+6.125	220.9
NQ	L. Schonrock	Kov	+9.064	214.9
NQ	T. Benetti	Apr	–	–

WorldSPB Championship Points

Pos	Rider	Points
1	D. Salvador	69
2	J. Buis	64
3	F. Fleerackers	59
4	X. Artigas	54
5	A. Torres	53
6	M. Vannucci	41
7	L. Veneman	40
8	B. Ieraci	35
9	E. Bartolini	22
10	K. Beekmans	19
11	D. Poncet	18
12	C. Thompson	16
13	M. Gaggi	16
14	A. Fuertes	13
15	B. Fernandez	12
16	H. Dessoy	7
17	M. Gennai	6
18	A. Di Persio	5
19	J. Osuna	4
20	T. Benetti	3
21	M. Sorrenti	2
22	G. Sanchez	1
23	J. Risueno	1

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2026 Motul FIM Superbike World Championship calendar

.Date	Country	Circuit	WorldSBK	WorldSSP	WorldSPB
20-22 Feb	AUS	Phillip Island GP	X	X
27-29 Mar	POR	Portimao	X	X	X
17-19 Apr	NED	TT Assen	X	X	X
1-3 May	HUN	Balaton Park	X	X
15-17 May	CZE	Most	X	X	X
29-31 May	ESP	MotorLand Aragon	X	X	X
12-14 Jun	ITA	Misano – Marco Simoncelli	X	X	X
10-12 Jul	UK	Donington Park	X	X
4-6 Sep	FRA	Nevers Magny-Cours	X	X	X
25-27 Sep	ITA	Cremona	X	X	X
9-11 Oct	POR	Estoril	X	X
16-18 Oct	ESP	Jerez – Angel Nieto*	X	X	X

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2026 World Superbike Championship Entry List

Rider	Bike	Team
I.Lecuona	Duc	Aruba.It Ducati
N.Bulega	Duc	Aruba.It Ducati
D.Petrucci	BMW	ROKiT BMW Motorrad
M.Oliveira	BMW	ROKiT BMW Motorrad
A.Locatelli	Yam	Pata Maxus Yamaha
X.Vierge	Yam	Pata Maxus Yamaha
Y.Montella	Duc	Barni Spark
A.Bautista	Duc	Barni Spark
A.Lowes	Bim	bimota by Kawasaki
A.Bassani	Bim	bimota by Kawasaki
S.Chantra	Hon	Honda HRC
J.Dixon	Hon	Honda HRC
S.Manzi	Yam	GYTR GRT Yamaha
R.Gardner	Yam	GYTR GRT Yamaha
S.Lowes	Duc	ELF Marc VDS
L.Baldassarri	Duc	Goeleven
T.Mackenzie	Duc	MGM Racing
G.Gerloff	Kaw	Kawasaki WorldSBK
A.Surra	Duc	Motocorsa
M.Rato	Yam	Motoxracing
B.Sofuoglu	Yam	Motoxracing
A.Iannone	Duc	Cainam Racing

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