PETRONAS MIE Racing Honda completes Friday’s free practices at Jerez with Rabat and Zaidi

The PETRONAS MIE Racing Honda Team and riders Tito Rabat and Zaqhwan Zaidi are on track at Spain’s Jerez Circuit, the stage for the 2025 Superbike World Championship season finale.

This twelfth and final race weekend got underway with free practice on Friday morning. In dry, sunny conditions, Rabat got straight to work with his technicians, making some adjustments to the technical setup of his CBR1000RR-R throughout FP1. Setting a fastest time of 1’41.240, the Spaniard positioned twenty-second in the standings at the end of this first phase. Teammate Zaidi refamiliarized himself with a track he has not seen for many years while working to adapt his bike and riding style to the track. The Malaysian rookie’s best lap, completed in 1’42.884, saw him place twenty-fifth.

Back on track for the afternoon session, which ran in higher temperatures, Rabat soon improved on his FP1 time. Focused on finding the right feeling and confidence aboard his bike, Tito worked hard with his team. Finding another six tenths, a fastest time of 1’40.256 was enough to see the Spaniard place twenty-first in Friday’s aggregate standings. Rookie Zaidi quickly took another half second off his earlier reference in FP2. His times continuing to drop as his confidence around the Spanish track grows, the Malaysian closed with a 1’42.383, to place twenty-fifth overall.

Tito Rabat #53

“We had a few things to sort out in FP1 and then improved a little this afternoon. In order to achieve the results we want, we still need to find more in terms of the setup so that we can be consistently quicker. Let’s see what we can find in tomorrow’s final practice as we get ready for Superpole and Race 1.”

Zaqhwan Zaidi #21

“Overall, practice went well today. I really like the layout of this track and have been before, though it was long ago. We need time to adapt the bike to the track, but I think we’re moving in the right direction. I think we need to change something with the setup to give me more feeling, but I think we have time to do that before Superpole and Race 1. We’ll keep working and keep focused as always.”

Conditioned by a grid penalty, Rabat works hard for P18, followed by Zaidi, P22 in SBK Race 1

PETRONAS MIE Racing Honda riders Tito Rabat and Zaqhwan Zaidi have completed the first of the races making up this final WorldSBK round at Jerez Circuit in Spain.

Saturday’s track action began with a final free practice, during which Rabat and Zaidi looked to find a few more precious tenths around the Jerez track in preparation for Superpole. Despite the brevity of this final preparatory session, the Spanish rider was able to take a good step, setting a 1’39.655. His Malaysian teammate continued to focus on race preparation but was also able to improve a little on his best of Friday, putting in a 1’42.225.

Eager to secure a good grid position at this final Spanish round, home rider Rabat was determined as the Superpole qualifying got underway. Setting an initial 1’39.520, Tito went all out for more in the final phase but a crash for another rider prevented him from improving on that time. Rabat therefore qualified twenty-second, for a spot on the eighth row of the grid. Improving by more than one full second on his previous best, rookie Zaidi closed qualifying with a fastest time of 1’41.148, which translated into twenty-fifth position, on the ninth row for Race 1.

Rabat’s Race 1 got off to a complicated start after he received a three-place grid penalty for slow riding during FP3. This meant that the Spaniard started from the back of the grid. With work to do, Tito quickly passed two riders and was up into twentieth by lap 3. Part of a small group of three riders, Rabat progressed to eighteenth in the second half of the race, a position he held to the line. From twenty-second on the grid, rookie Zaidi worked hard throughout the weekend’s first 20-lap race. Focused on maintaining a consistent rhythm and completing a clean race so as to have crucial data for Sunday’s races, the rookie concluded this first race in twenty-second position.

Tito Rabat #53

“An unfair penalty in my opinion, which meant we were three positions further back on the grid. It’s very hard to make passes through the first laps from that position. I did then get into a rhythm, but it came a little late, so hopefully we can find something that allows me to better follow the group in Sunday’s races. I expected a little more today, but let’s see what we can do tomorrow. We’ll keep fighting.”

Zaqhwan Zaidi #21

“I didn’t feel too comfortable on the bike today, to be honest. I did my best to enjoy the race, but I felt I should have been able to stick with the group better than I did. I did my best but didn’t have the confidence for some reason. I think we’ll try a different setup for Race 2, and hopefully that will allow us to improve. Let’s see tomorrow, and in the meantime thanks to the team for all their hard work today.” 

Rabat just misses points in the final SBK race of the year at home in Spain, Zaidi concludes P21

Sunday’s SBK races at Jerez Circuit have brought the PETRONAS MIE Racing Honda Team’s championship campaign to a close, with riders Tito Rabat and Zaqhwan Zaidi placing P16 and P21 in the final full-length race of the 2025 season.

Morning warm-up unfortunately brought a small crash for Zaidi, which prevented rider and team from completing final checks prior to the Superpole race. Rabat meanwhile completed a productive ten-minute warm-up, after which focus switched to the ten-lap sprint, a race that again ran in dry, stable conditions.

From 21st on the grid, Rabat worked hard to make up two positions over the first half of this short race. Demonstrating good pace throughout the ten laps, the Spaniard moved up one more place in the final stages to close eighteenth. With his bike ably repaired by his technicians, Zaidi started the race from twenty-fourth. The Malaysian had progressed to twenty-first by the mid-race point, a position he did well to hold to the line.

The final Superbike race of the weekend, and of the 2025 season, got underway as scheduled at 2pm local time (CET). Lining up in P20 for this 20-lap race, Rabat was quick to make up two places. Doing well to climb to sixteenth, the Spaniard was not quite able to reach the points zone but nevertheless closed sixteenth after showing consistent pace throughout this final race. Zaidi made a good start from twenty-third and ran another error-free race, finishing a few seconds closer to the front with respect to Saturday’s Race 1, in P21.

Rabat rounds out the 2025 season in twenty-third place in the championship standings, with 9 points, while Zaidi places twenty-sixth with 1 point. The PETRONAS MIE Racing Honda Team thanks its riders for their commitment and hard work over the course of the 2025 season, and will announce its future plans in due course.

Tito Rabat #53

“It’s been a challenging weekend, but we’ve worked hard, pushed and finished this last race 33 seconds from the front. Generally speaking, I think we’ve worked 100% with the package we have. I think we’ve reached quite a good level and improved the bike, considering that I only joined the team for the final rounds. Let’s see what the future brings.”

Zaqhwan Zaidi #21

“I tried to enjoy the last race of this SBK season. During my rookie year, I’ve tried to push as hard as possible and do my very best each weekend, always giving 100%. At this level it’s not easy but I feel we’ve worked well together as a team and there has been progress, for sure. I’m very grateful for the team; they’ve worked really hard all season. All I can say is a big thank you to the team for this opportunity; I hope we might have the chance to work together again in the future.”