World Superbike debut for MotoGP riders: date set for first winter test

With two-time world champion Álvaro Bautista and Danilo Petrucci, two familiar names are disappearing from the World Superbike Championship grid; neither has secured a ride for 2027. However, three MotoGP winners – Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM), Franco Morbidelli (VR46 Ducati) and Jack Miller (Pramac Yamaha) – are stepping in, and their international reputations should see them fill this gap.

Whilst the 2026 Superbike World Championship concludes at Jerez on the weekend of 16–18 October, with testing taking place the very following week at the circuit in the southernmost tip of Spain, the MotoGP season runs until the last weekend in November in Valencia.

As a result, the first Superbike winter test on 22–23 October is unlikely to offer much in the way of new developments. The same applies to the second test on 26–27 November, again at Jerez. Whilst Bimota, Honda and Kawasaki will have the same riders in 2027 as this year and will not be introducing any new bikes, the factory teams from BMW, Ducati and Yamaha will not be able to ride with their riders coming over from MotoGP until December. To accommodate this, the Circuit Ricardo Tormo in Valencia has been booked for the 9th and 10th; this circuit will feature on the SBK calendar in 2027 instead of Jerez.

That’s when we’ll see Binder on the BMW, Morbidelli on the Aruba factory Ducati and Miller on the factory Yamaha for the first time. BMW may field its new M1000RR with a test rider at the first winter test in October, but we won’t see the regular riders on it until December.

It will be interesting to see whether the balance of power shifts with the new technical regulations coming into force from 2027: in addition to the current limit on fuel flow rate per manufacturer, a prescribed maximum rev limit will be introduced as a second balancing measure. The background to this is that Ducati has won every race so far this season. Of 81 podium finishes, only seven did not go to Ducati: four were claimed by BMW works rider Miguel Oliveira, two by Axel Bassani and one by Alex Lowes, both on a Bimota.

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Testing will continue in Portimão at the end of January, before the equipment is shipped to Australia. The final pre-season test will take place there on 15–16 February, and the 2027 World Championship will get underway at Phillip Island the following weekend, 19–21 February.

Riders & Teams, 2027 Superbike World Championship: