The 2026 FIM Superbike World Championship got off to a promising start at Phillip Island Circuit in Australia for former two-time MotoAmerica Supersport Champion and multi-time MotoAmerica Superbike race winner Garrett Gerloff. Reuniting with his former crew chief Les Pearson for 2026 has already reaped benefits for the Texan and his Kawasaki WorldSBK Team.

Aboard his Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10RR, Gerloff was seventh in FP1, then ninth in the final combined times on Friday, just .834 of a second from the fastest rider on day one and only .338 of a second from the rider in second place. 

“I am pretty happy with how things went today, finishing the morning’s FP1 session in the top seven,” Gerloff said. “To finish inside the top ten at the end of day one is better than I have done here in previous years. I still want to be closer to the top five, but I am really happy with all the work the team is doing and the setting changes we are making.”

On Saturday, Gerloff was eighth in Superpole. He started the first 22-lap race of the season on the row three of the grid, raced hard, and was in 10th place on the final lap while battling for position with fellow former MotoAmerica Superbike competitor Danilo Petrucci. Ultimately, Gerloff barely missed out on a top-10 result by just .017 of a second, and thanks to his feedback and the positive work put in by his crew and him, the team found a set-up improvement for day three at Phillip Island.

After Race One, Gerloff said, “I feel good on the bike, and I feel good with the team. I struggled at the end of race one with tire life, so the team will hopefully improve that aspect tomorrow. I hope we can find that improvement and be closer to the front.”

With two races on Sunday, Gerloff finished sixth in the 10-lap Superpole Race, which matched his best result since joining the Kawasaki WorldSBK Team last year. It was also the 200th race start of his WorldSBK career.

Race Two was unfortunately run in wet conditions, but Gerloff still managed to finish 10th and he scored six more valuable championship points. All told, he scored points in all three races at Phillip Island, and he is in 12th place overall after the opening weekend of the championship.

“The weather was crazy on Sunday,” Gerloff said. “Compared to how we finished yesterday, I am so much more happy with how we finished today. I am happy with our performance in the Superpole Race, mainly. I feel like we made a big step with the bike, in general. I was feeling really good riding it, and in a good position for Race Two. I tried my best in the rain, and I felt really good, initially. Then, as the pace dropped, and everybody started going faster and faster, I started having more and more ‘moments’ on the bike. I tried to keep up, but I was not able to. We got a top-10 finish, so we will take it for now. I am really looking forward to the next round in Portimão.”

Kawasaki WorldSBK Team owner Manuel Puccetti commented, “Gerloff’s sixth place in the Superpole Race, his 200th WorldSBK race start, is definitely a great result. It’s the best he’s achieved with us since (his) sixth place at Donington last year. Our rider ran a very strong race, finishing half-a-second from the podium. Race Two was complicated by rain and by the track conditions, but Gerloff confirmed both his competitiveness and that of the bike, reaching the top ten.”

The next WorldSBK round will be on March 27 through 29 at the always popular Autódromo Internacional do Algarve in Portimão neare the Algarve coast of Portugal.