Only Ducati was faster: Garrett Gerloff makes Kawasaki the second-strongest team

For Kawasaki, Cremona is a home race, as it is only 60 km from the team’s headquarters in Reggio Emilia to the circuit. During tests in June and August, Garrett Gerloff was able to prepare intensively for the tenth round of the 2026 Superbike World Championship – and the Texan was correspondingly confident, even believing a podium finish was possible. Given Ducati’s dominance this year, however, that was hard to imagine.

Nor did Gerloff’s performance suggest otherwise: he finished eighth on Friday and also secured only eighth place in Superpole – which was nonetheless the Kawasaki rider’s best grid position so far.

Garrett Gerloff (Kawasaki) held off Alex Lowes (Bimota)

Gerloff quickly lost sight of the podium. Twenty seconds behind the leaders, however, the American engaged in an entertaining battle with Alex Lowes (Bimota) for fifth place – and the Kawasaki rider came out on top. As a reminder: the KB998 is powered by the ZX-10RR engine!

“Alex and the Bimota are my benchmark, and if I can battle with him, it gives me a good feeling,” said Gerloff on Saturday afternoon. “In the first few laps I could still see Sam and Balda, but after a while they’d disappeared. There’s not much more we can do at the moment, but we’re giving it our all and trying everything we can.”

Kawasaki has the oldest motorbike in the 2026 World Superbike Championship field

It’s astonishing: Kawasaki has proved to be the more competitive package this year than BMW, Yamaha and Honda. Yet the ZX-10RR is the oldest motorbike in the field.

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“We’re developing the bike for higher cornering speed; otherwise our hands are tied, but that’s already helping us a bit,” said Gerloff. “We’re also working on the electronics settings – up until now, the throttle response hasn’t matched my riding style perfectly, and that’s given us an advantage too. This year’s bike also has a slightly better engine and the fairing covers my shoulders more – so there’s progress and the bike is definitely better than in 2025.”