2026 World Superbike Championship ready for lift-off in Australia in new era without six-time champion Jonathan Rea

Rea made his full-time World Superbike debut in 2009 and went on to become the most successful rider in the history of the series, winning six consecutive crowns between 2015 and 2020 with the Kawasaki Racing Team.

The Northern Ireland rider, who won a record 119 races throughout his unprecedented career, joined the Yamaha Racing team in 2024 but struggled in his first season on the R1, finishing 13th.

He continued with the team last year but retired from full-time racing at the end of the season.

Rea has taken on a new role as a test rider for Honda HRC and was in action on the Fireblade for the first time during winter testing at Jerez in Spain and Portimao in Portugal.

The 39-year-old could potentially make some race appearances in 2026 as a wild card rider.

The factory Honda HRC team was left without its new line-up of riders for the opening round, with Thailand’s Somkiat Chantra missing out after fracturing his right arm in a training crash at Sepang in Malaysia, while former Moto2 rider Jake Dixon fractured his left wrist in a spill during the winter test at Phillip Island this week.

British Superbike rider Ryan Vickers is riding for the official Honda squad as a wild card this weekend alongside test rider Tetsuta Nagashima.

Vickers was 16th on the combined free practice times on Friday, one place ahead of Nagashima.

Last year’s championship runner-up and 2026 title favourite Nicolo Bulega topped the times for the Aruba.it Ducati team from England’s Alex Lowes (bimota by Kawasaki Racing Team) and Sam Lowes (Marc VDS Racing Ducati).

Reigning champion Toprak Razgatlioglu, who retained the title in 2025 for the ROKiT BMW team, has left World Superbikes to make his debut in the MotoGP World Championship with the Pramac Racing on a Yamaha.

The opening race is scheduled for 05:00 GMT on Saturday with the Superpole race on Sunday at 02:00 GMT and Race 2 at 05:00 GMT.