Despite the litany of unknowns, he faced approaching his rookie season in The FIM Supersport 300 World Championship and his unfamiliarity with the Kove machine he would be riding, Benat Fernandez (Team #109 Retro Traffic Kove) hit the ground running in 2025. In the first session of their first round of the season, Fernandez took pole, instantly putting the rest of the field on notice that #7 was a force to be reckoned with and followed that up with a win in Race 2 to close their first round. #7 kept that strong form all season, culminating in a hectic final corner overtake in the final race of the season to stamp his name into history as the final WorldSSP300 winner in the category’s history.

 At the EICMA event in Milan, his team confirmed not only that Kove will be competing next season in the new FIM Sportbike World Championship class, but their Basque talisman rider will be remaining with the team. Fernandez will be joining forces to race alongside Phillip Tonn who competed win WorldSSP300 in 2025 with KTM machinery next to Jeffrey Buis.

RUNNING IT BACK IN WorldSPB: “I’m looking forward to the test, pushing hard and doing my best like in 2025”

The #7 credited his success in part to the help put in by his mentor Efren Vazquez. Vazquez is a former rider who used his experience to counsel Fernandez, helping him get comfortable in the high-pressure, make-or-break situations riders so often find themselves in at the front. He will be able to count on the continuity rolling on with his team, aiding him in his quest for continued success in the new Championship.

Looking back on his 2025 title campaign and looking ahead to 2026 in the new Championship, Fernandez said: “It feels amazing to be a World Champion, it’s what I had been working so hard for and achieved this. It’s an honour to be in the history books as the last WorldSSP300 Champion, and it was amazing to have won it in that way, in the last corner of the final race. I can’t describe it with words, but it’s been amazing. I came into the season just focused on giving my 100%. The bike was good from the start, so I just focused on pushing hard and in the end, we did it! Efren showed me the discipline that comes with having a routine, and I think this was a key to our success. Looking ahead to next season in WorldSPB, I’ve never tried the bike, but I’m looking forward to the test, pushing hard and doing my best like in 2025.”

BENAT AT THE BUZZER: “They said to me that this was the most incredible ending to a Championship they had ever seen before, and to me it’s down to Benat’s racecraft”

Among that team sticking by Fernandez will be Team Principal Paul Tobin. The Irishman’s experience has helped bring the different parties that comprise the team together— an intercontinental collaboration combining the Irish team, their rider from Spain’s Basque Country, and their bike’s Chinese manufacturer. Despite the potential complications posed by the different factors at play, their collaboration worked out and left them with a World Championship.

Team #109 Retro Traffic Kove’s Team Principal, Paul Tobin, spoke on the thrilling conclusion to the 2025 campaign and looked ahead to 2026 in WorldSPB: “It was an absolutely incredible year, from the start of the year, when we took the Kove bike and started working with Benat. It’s an Irish team, with a young Basque rider and a Chinese manufacturer, and the company made many think we wouldn’t win the Championship didn’t think we could win a World Championship. In the first round, in his first session he took pole, so we knew he was fast. Then at Portimao, he won his first race, and we rode that momentum through the rest of the season, including the last race. Speaking to other people who watch the sport, they said to me that this was the most incredible ending to a Championship they had ever seen before, and to me it’s down to Benat’s race craft and his ability to do what he does in the final corner. Next season we will be a full factory team with Kove, so it’s a really good step for the team and it’s really exciting for the first season of WorldSPB.”

STICKING TO WINNING WAYS: “Our goal for next season is another Championship, this time in WorldSPB”

In the 2025 season, Kove was the newest of the manufacturers taking on the pack of well-established fabricators in the World Supersport 300 paddock. In 2026, they will be on equal terms in terms of experience as a part of the brand new WorldSPB paddock. Propelling Fernandez forward, Kove will use their 450RR machine.

Wang Zhen, Kove’s Race Manager, said: “The new bike will be a 450cc four-cylinder, with particular attention given to the bike’s brakes and agility. We want to prove that a Chinese manufacturer can compete with the top level of the rest of the world. Our goals for next season are another Championship, this time in WorldSPB. Our experience in BSB has given us helpful data that we can use to improve our setup next season.”

Catch Fernandez in World Sportbike’s 2026 Inaugural season with the WorldSBK VideoPass!