The FIM Sportbike World Championship has put on a show all year in the category’s maiden campaign, and the final round looks set to be no less dramatic, with a shootout for the title. The Circuito de Jerez - Angel Nieto, Andalucia will once again host the final round of the year, and it will be a home Pirelli Spanish Round for the top two title contenders as a litany of tight battles within the top ten unfold behind them.
SALVADOR ARRIVES TO ANDALUCIA WITH A SLIM LEAD
Current leader David Salvador (Team ProDina Kawasaki XCI) and Xavi Artigas (MTM Kawasaki) are separated by just 12 points with 50 points left to play for; a narrow margin given WorldSPB’s frequent groups of riders fighting for podium positions in the class. In 2025’s dramatic final WorldSSP300 round here at Jerez, he took P2 in Race 1 behind eventual Champion Benat Fernandez (Kove Racing Team 109), and despite fighting for the win in Race 2, a last-lap irresponsible riding penalty applied to him by FIM WorldSBK Stewards sent him back to a P16 finish. Nonetheless, he and teammate Antonio Torres earned the Teams’ title, a feat he will look to repeat in 2026.
To clinch the Riders’ title as early as Race 1, Salvador will need to outscore Artigas by at least 14 points; if that doesn’t happen, the title fight will go to a decisive final-race showdown between the pair.
THOMPSON CLINGS TO P3 BY A POINT
Australian rider Carter Thompson (Team BrCorse) has caught fire over the last four rounds, and with a maiden win in the class in Race 2 at Cremona, he now holds third place in the Riders’ Championship standings. Thompson finished both races off the podium last season here in WorldSSP300, which may be a promising omen for the rider in P4 behind him, Torres. The #47 took two podiums here in that same category over the last two seasons, and with such a slim margin separating the two, don’t expect either rider to give an inch.
SEABRIGHT FORTIFIES FIFTH PLACE
British rider Fenton Seabright (PHR Performance Triumph) missed the podium last time out for the first time in the last four rounds, and a return to the rostrum would help safeguard his fifth-place position in the Championship, with a posse of riders as close behind as just four points. Riding in P6 with the Brit in his sights, Belgian rider Ferre Fleerackers (Track & Trades Wixx Racing) found a way back onto the podium at Cremona for his first silverware since Assen. With little left to lose, he currently rides as the top Suzuki rider. Look for him to try to break his GSX-8R into the top five over the final two races. Matteo Vannucci (Revo-M2) holds P7 just seven points behind the Belgian but hasn’t enjoyed the same recent return to pace. Vannucci started the season with terrific pace on his Aprilia machine; he will fight tooth and nail, free of pressure, to try to get his confidence back in this final round. Like his Suzuki-powered teammate Fleerackers, two-time WorldSSP300 Champion Jeffrey Buis enjoyed a tremendous start to the season, but that momentum has slowed to a crawl as he’s taken a total of five points over the last two rounds. Looking for a high note to end this season on, the Dutchman will throw the kitchen sink at the Spanish circuit. It’s a similar story for Italian Bruno Ieraci (CM Triumph Factory Racing) in ninth place. He’s shown flashes of brilliance on his Triumph machine, including a maiden win at home at Misano, but since then, positives have been few and far between.
FUERTES AND DESSOY HOPE TO BREAK INTO THE TOP 10
Holding tenth place, Dutch rider Loris Veneman (MTM Kawasaki) will miss the season’s final round after he crashed out at Turn 3 in Race 2 at Cremona, he will be replaced by Spanish rider Roberto Fernandez who competed in the class at Aragon where he took his first point in Race 1. Hungry to break into the top ten at the 11th hour, Spanish rider Alvaro Fuertes (Deza-Box 77 Racing Team) arrives home after a high of P4 at Cremona, his best round of the season to put him within four points of the #71. Behind him in P12, British Triumph rider Harrison Dessoy (PHR Performance Triumph) prepares for a final assault on the top ten just two points behind Fuertes; the Englishman has a feather in his cap as he arrives in Andalucia, having taken his second WorldSPB podium in P2 in Race 1 in Italy. Arai Agaska (ProGP NitiRacing) has been declared unfit and will hope to get the all-clear from the medical centre ahead of the round’s action on track. Continuing to fill in for German rider Phillip Tonn, French rider Hugo De Cancellis (Kove Racing Team 109) will compete on the Kove 450RR alongside Benat Fernandez. Riding as the round’s lone wildcard, inaugural WorldSSP300 Champion Marc Garcia (Yamaha MS Racing FIMLA AD78) returns to the paddock to appear in WorldSPB’s first-ever season as well.
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