A strong first day for the Kawasaki WorldSBK Team at Cremona

Garrett Gerloff and the Kawasaki WorldSBK Team worked well together through the FP1 and FP2 practice sessions at the 3.768km-long Cremona Circuit in Italy, and ended up eighth in the combined time sheets as a result.

On the Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10RR, Gerloff would end up the fastest non-Ducati rider of the opening day, in an overall eighth place. In all, 22 riders took part in the first day of action at Cremona.

Garrett was particularly happy to have found the best set-up in the final part of FP2, as his pit crew had consistently given him a better bike through the opening day.

The whole Kawasaki WorldSBK team hopes to continue their progress in Saturday’s FP3 session and Superpole Qualifying, before they take on Race One, which is scheduled to start at 15.30 local time.

The finale to the second Italian-based WorldSBK round of the year will take place on Sunday, 27 September, with a ten-lap Superpole ‘sprint’ race proceeding a second 23-lap Race Two.

Garrett Gerloff: “It was a good opening day here at Cremona and I am happy about that. I didn’t start super-amazing in FP1 but the team did a great job in finding a bit of improvement every time I went out. I felt I ended the day with the best bike set-up of the day, so that is always a good thing. I am really happy with everything we learned to help us to be ready for Saturday, so I am looking forward to Superpole Qualifying and then the first race.”

Jeremy Alcoba secures Superpole at Cremona

The Kawasaki WorldSSP Team’s second home round at the Italy’s Cremona Circuit has got off to a very positive start!

The team’s riders were out today for free practice and Superpole, which established the grid for the first race of this tenth WorldSSP round.

Jeremy Alcoba and Dominique Aegerter took to the track this morning for the one and only practice session, during which they worked with their technicians to find the best setup for their Ninja SX-6R 636 machines. The Spanish rider put in an excellent performance, setting a time of 1’32”008 to place third. Teammate Aegerter had a few difficulties, closing twenty-first with a time of 1’32”952.

The tenth Superpole of the season got underway in the late afternoon and saw Alcoba improve significantly on his previous best. Putting in an impressive time of 1’31”259, he was able to secure pole position! The Spaniard fully exploited the potential of his Ninja and set a new lap record around the Italian track in the process.

Dominique Aegerter also did well, setting a best of 1’31”852 to qualify twelfth. Tomorrow Alcoba will get away from the front row of the grid and Aegerter from the fourth as they line up for the weekend’s first 20-lap race.

Jeremy Alcoba: “I’m really pleased for me and the team, also because this is their home round. This morning we found a good setup in practice, and it was easy to ride my Kawasaki. My feeling with the bike was great and allowed me to achieve pole and set a new fastest lap of the Cremona track. I’m happy and want to thank the team for all their hard work. I hope the weekend continues in the same way.”

Dominique Aegerter: “This tenth round has got off to a good start, and we found a good setup also thanks to the data we collected during our recent test here at Cremona. Qualifying didn’t go badly and I want to congratulate Jeremy for scoring pole. A very positive result for the team and all the fans who were here today. I qualified twelfth, but I’m less than six tenths away. I’m optimistic ahead of tomorrow’s race because I feel good on the bike and so hope to run a good race. Thanks to the team for all their precious support.”

Garrett Gerloff takes home a top five at the team’s home venue

Kawasaki WorldSBK Team rider Garrett Gerloff ended the first of three Cremona races in a strong and confident fifth place, completing the opening points scoring contest as the top non-Ducati rider.

Gerloff started Race One from eighth place on the grid, thanks to his performance in the Superpole Qualifying session earlier on Saturday, 26 September.

In the race, Gerloff was in determined form on his Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10RR, lapping the 3.768km long Cremona ‘stadium-style’ circuit with confidence and consistent pace.

He competed with BbKRT rider Alex Lowes for much of the race and just held him off across the line after 23 laps of concentration in warm, if not excessively hot conditions.

Garrett secured 11 points for his fifth place, making a very positive difference to his overall championship haul.

This top five finish for Gerloff in the WorldSBK category came about shortly after a race win for Jeremy Alcoba (Kawasaki WorldSSP Team) in the earlier Supersport race at the overall Puccetti Racing-operated squad’s home event.

On Sunday, 27 September, there will be two more races for Gerloff and his team to take part in, the first being the ten-lap Superpole Race, which will start at 11.10. The final full distance WorldSBK race at Cremona this season will take place at 15.30.

Manuel Puccetti: “After the win in Supersport, Gerloff’s fifth place in Superbike has made for an unforgettable day. A top five at our home round is a fantastic result for the whole team, which has worked so hard to give our rider an increasingly competitive bike. Gerloff did really well because it definitely wasn’t an easy race, with high temperatures and a challenging track. Despite that, he was able to score his best result of the season. I don’t know how tomorrow will go but today I want to enjoy these wonderful results, the best of the last three years.”

Garrett Gerloff: “I was happy to be battling with Alex Lowes, and he has definitely been the reference all year. He has had a ton of good races inside the top five, so if I can be with him, it always makes me feel better. I could see Baldassarri and Sam Lowes up ahead for a little bit, but after a while, I couldn’t even see them anymore. We are trying our best. I feel like we have pushed the bike in more of a corner speed direction this year. That has helped me a lot, and we have also worked a lot with electronics. It was fine last year, but it just didn’t suit my style and how I like to have a good connection with the gas. Those two things and other things have helped me a lot. I hope we can have a good Superpole Race and at least maintain my starting position for the final race. But if I can go up a row, then that will make life easier for Race Two.”

Fantastic Race One victory for Jeremy Alcoba

At the home round of his Kawasaki WorldSSP Team, Jeremy Alcoba won a stopped-and-restarted first race, after a controlled front-running display of pace and control, despite being pressurised by three competitors immediately behind him.

This was Jeremy’s first race win in WorldSSP and the team’s first since 2023. Dominique Aegerter (Kawasaki WorldSSP Team) finished a strong ninth place after starting 12th on the grid.

Alcoba’s Saturday cause was helped by a strong performance in Free Practice and an even more impressive one in Superpole Qualifying, on Friday 25 September. Jeremy took his first career Superpole ‘win’ and started from pole position as a result.

The first attempted running of the scheduled 20-lap WorldSSP race ended after a two-rider crash, which left gravel strewn across the track, making it unsafe for the race to continue.

After a quick restart procedure, Alcoba once again hit the front of the field and stayed there until the end of what was finally a 13-lap race, finishing a clear 0.568 seconds ahead of his closest competitor on his Ninja ZX-6R 636 machine.

Dominique was down in 16th position on lap one, but made up two places on lap four before moving forward to take ninth position on lap eleven, and hold that placing all the way to the chequered flag.

Race conditions at the tight and intense 3.768km-long Cremona Circuit were almost ideal, with warm air conditions of 25°C and track temperatures of 30°C being recorded.

The second and final Cremona race in WorldSSP will take place at 14.00 local time on Sunday 27 September.

Manuel Puccetti: “Our last WorldSSP race win dates back to 2023 and so it feels amazing to be back on the highest step of the rostrum. A win that repays all the hard work that the team and Jeremy Alcoba have put in. Alcoba dominated in both Friday’s qualifying and today’s race. He’s done a great job, supported by a bike that we have continued to develop and improve race after race, to the point that it is, in all likelihood, the best ever Ninja Superbike. Aegerter also did well to finish top ten.”

Jeremy Alcoba: “It feels amazing to win and I hope this is the first of many. We are working really well. I am training a lot, as I always do, and it looks like we found something and the team helped me. I know my potential and my speed and we showed it from Friday. I am scared of no one and it looks like when we are competitive we can fight for many things. Thank you to the team, and everybody who is with me – this is for all of you.”

Dominique Aegerter: “We started well at Cremona, also because we tested here and had some data. In Race One I finished in P9, and secured some good points. We had great battles with many different riders. I think that we can be positive because we are going in the right direction, and I got a little bit better feeling with the bike. I hope we can improve slightly in the warm-up session. I will have to start a little bit in the back because I did not achieve the lap times in Race One. I will have to start on 15th place on the grid, I think, which does not help. Big congrats to Jeremy who took his first victory. It is super-cool to take this at the home round of the team and also for Kawasaki, because we had some not-so-easy times this season.”

Gerloff recovers strongly to finish eighth in Race Two

Garrett Gerloff (Kawasaki WorldSBK Team) had two contrasting fortunes in Sunday’s Cremona races, but left his team’s home round with another strong points score to add to those he gained in Race One on Saturday 26 September.

The 3.768km-long Cremona Circuit, just 60 or so kilometres from the Kawasaki WorldSBK Team’s home base, again provided good riding conditions on Sunday 27 September, this time for two races on a single day.

In the morning’s ten-lap Superpole Race, Garrett started well but he and Lorenzo Baldassarri touched and both riders fell on the exit of T7, on the first lap.

Garrett took a fast tumble through the gravel trap, and felt fortunate to have escaped with some strong impacts on his body but nothing more serious.

After machine repairs that were completed in time for the 15.30 start to a 23-lap Race Two, Gerloff again got off the line quickly.

Despite the effects of the earlier fall, he was riding well inside the top ten places on his Ninja ZX-10RR, and Garrett would finish in eighth place.

After ten of the 12 rounds that make up the full season have now been completed, Garrett is eighth overall in the championship standings, with 145 points.

The Circuito Estoril in Portugal and the Circuito de Jerez Angel Nieto will host the final two rounds of the 2026 season, over consecutive weekends. Estoril will take place between 9-11 October and Jerez between 16-18 October.

Manuel Puccetti: “In the sprint race, Gerloff was unfortunately caught up in a crash that prevented him from scoring another positive result. In the main race, he did well to put that incident behind him and, despite starting from further back compared to the previous two races, managed to finish and strong eighth, scoring many points in the process. We’re regular top ten finishers now, but the goal is always to do even better.”

Garrett Gerloff: “It was not the easiest of days. In the Superpole Race, I had a good start and was able to get up to about seventh, I think. Then Baldassarri and I came together in T7, and we both ended up going down. I got flicked pretty hard, so I am just happy to be standing here. In Race Two, I tried my best. I got a good start, again, but I struggled a bit. I felt like I was a bit tight and riding a bit tense. I don’t know if it was just my body being tight. I tried to relax and flow, but in the end, I was struggling quite a bit, with the tyres also. A top eight finish is decent for the team. I am happy that this weekend went OK for them at their home round, and happy to be leaving here healthy and heading to the next race.”

Historic first Kawasaki double win in WorldSSP

Kawasaki WorldSSP Team rider Jeremy Alcoba pulled off another race win at the team’s home round, taking his second victory in as many days at the 3.768km-long circuit in Italy. Dominique Aegerter was 12th in Race Two.

Cremona proved to be the first venue at which any Kawasaki rider has won both WorldSSP races in a single weekend, since WorldSSP started featuring two races per round in 2020.

Sitting in third place for most of the 20-lap second race, Alcoba was patient and restrained until near the end, when he took the race lead on lap 18. Alcoba made sure that he and his Ninja ZX-6R 636 would take the victory, which he did by 0.493 seconds from championship leader Albert Arenas. For Aegerter, starting Race Two from 15th place on the grid, 12th would be his final race result. In all, he gathered 11 championship points at Cremona, equalling his best weekend performance of the season to date.

In the championship standings, after ten of 12 rounds, a maximum possible weekend points score for Alcoba has propelled him up to sixth place overall, with 188 points in all. Aegerter is 18th, with 49 points.

After Cremona, the season will be completed by back-to-back race weekends, starting at Estoril in Portugal between 9-11 October and coming to a conclusion at Jerez in Spain, between 16-18 October.

Manuel Puccetti: “Jeremy Alcoba put in another fantastic performance. He managed the race today, studying his rivals and attacking at just the right moment, to secure an incredible double win which, together with Saturday’s Superpole, makes the Cremona round an historic one for Kawasaki and for our team. Aegerter also did well, finishing inside the points zone.”

Jeremy Alcoba: “I am really happy. I cannot say that I did not expect this because on Friday I felt really good. The rider always takes things more personally from the second race than the first when he goes home, so that made me a bit more nervous today, but I was trying to control myself and stay focused. I knew that other riders could improve from yesterday and that this race would be longer. I was struggling a bit after seven laps yesterday, so today I decided to be more smart and smooth and I felt like I was fast. When I saw that Arenas and Booth-Amos were in first and second place, I decided to pass Farioli and Debise and I was there with the leading riders. Not too close because I knew that the front tyre pressure could go up when inside the slipstream. I was riding more with the front than the rear right then. I almost lost the front in some corners and I was close to crashing, but I stayed focused. I studied the riders in front and I knew where I was faster, so when I passed Arenas I tried to defend in the sectors where he was faster. Another victory for the team and me in Cremona.”

Dominique Aegerter: “We finished in 12th place but for sure I wanted more. We started in 15th place on the grid so we had a very hard early battle. I had a good start but in the first laps I did not have enough power to attack. In the middle of the race I was very competitive and I could overtake a few riders. We struggled a little bit in the last few laps, because I pushed on every lap I could. It was positive this weekend and we took a step forward, just not where we want to be. We have two more rounds in Estoril and Jerez and for sure we will do our best. Again, big congratulations to my team-mate Jeremy Alcoba who won the second race. It is cool to see that the bike works and that when everything goes together, we can be fast.”