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Artigas Wins Dramatic Season WorldSPB Finale
The all-new FIM Sportbike World Championship came to a remarkable conclusion at the final round in Spain, even if one of two Kawasaki Ninja ZX-6R 636 riders - Xavi Artigas (MTM Kawasaki) or championship leader David Salvador (Team ProDina Kawasaki XCI) - was already guaranteed to be crowned the new champion before a single wheel had been turned.
In the end, it would be Artigas who would be champion and Salvador second by just eight points. Overall fourth place was also secured by a Kawasaki rider, Antonio Torres (Team ProDina Kawasaki XCI).
At the beginning of the weekend, under a hot Spanish sun, Salvador won the Superpole contest on Friday, October 16, and by an astounding margin of 0.701 seconds from Yamaha rider Carter Thompson. Clearly, it was ‘advantage Salvador’ after the first day, given such a strong show of individual pace.
Just to keep the championship excitement at its peak, however, both Salvador and Artigas had qualified on the front row for Race 1, after the other title-chasing Spaniard went third.
Salvador could have won the title on Saturday, but had to beat Artigas by enough of a points margin to achieve that aim and not have to wait until the true series finale the next day.
With both competing riders being Spanish, racing at a Spanish circuit and in front of Spanish fans, the excitement in the paddock was as hot as the weather had been on Friday, and would be again on Saturday.
An incredible turn of events at the front of the WorldSPB race on Saturday, October 17 saw Salvador and Thompson collide into the final hairpin, with the Spanish rider crashing and Thompson being handed a long-lap penalty for his part in the collision. Salvador got back on his bike to finish the race, although in 22nd and last position, scoring no points.
Up front, Artigas held his nerve and maintained a strong pace throughout the 11-lap race to win the Jerez opener. The intense seven-rider battle for the lead narrowed to five after two riders crashed, including Salvador.
Second place went to Suzuki rider Ferre Fleerackers, who had been seventh for a time but took full advantage of the Thompson/Salvador incident to get into a podium placing.
Third place for one-time struggler in this first season of WorldSPB, Alvaro Fuertes (Deza-Box 77 Racing Team Kawasaki), was a great boost for him and his team. Having his teammate Jose Osuna (Deza-Box 77 Racing Team Kawasaki) finish in fourth place, just 0.094 from Fuertes, double-underlined how much progress the team had made from the difficult first round in Portimao.
The Top 4 in Race 1 were separated by just 0.222 seconds, which was not an a typical finish in this category of racing.
With Salvador’s teammate Torres in fifth place, making it four Kawasakis in the first five positions at Jerez, this first race also illustrated why Kawasaki would end the eighth and final round collecting every significant championship success.
Juan Risueno (Pons Motosport Italika Racing) was a points scorer in 11th place on Saturday, as was stand-in for the injured Loris Veneman, Roberto Fernandez (MTM Kawasaki), in 14th place. Julian Correa (Pons Motosport Italika Racing) was involved in an early multi-rider fall in Race 1, and did not score.
In Race 2, with the relative championship advantage now fully reversed, any race finish from fourth or greater would see Artigas crowned champion of this new FIM World Championship category.
Given the incredibly fluid and ever-changing nature of the leading group, which numbered up to 15 riders at one time, there was no indication that the championship was on the line, as Artigas and Salvador joined their peers in a rolling fight for the first half of the race.
Eventually, Thompson broke away from the pack, with Torres trying his best to keep pace with his new personal rival. He and Thompson had started the day on the same points total and were fighting for overall third place.
Thompson would win by 4.565 seconds from Torres, an unusually large margin in this closely balanced category. Torres was second but just missed out on a Top 4 finish for the season.
The main focus of the entire championship was on the battle behind, however, some 1.7 seconds from Torres.
Both Artigas and Salvador gave it their maximum to try and get ahead of the other, but as the laps started to count down to the end, and with Salvador unable to get away to try and hunt down Thompson or Torres, Artigas did not need to push as hard as he had been to make sure of the crown.
Eighth at the flag was enough for Artigas, the first-ever WorldSPB Champion.
Behind the Top 2, Osuna was third, taking his first podium in WorldSPB, Salvador fourth, Fuertes fifth, and Risueno seventh.
Correa would score points in the final race for 11th place, as would Roberto Fernandez (MTM) for 14th position, the same result he had secured on Saturday.
All eight competing Kawasaki riders would score points of some kind in the final race of 2026.
In the Riders’ Championship, Artigas would end up with 245 points, Salvador 237, Thompson 193 and Torres 188. Fuertes would break the 100-point barrier, in an overall ninth position.
Osuna was 11th overall, and although out injured for some of the season, including the series finale, MTM Kawasaki regular Loris Veneman was 13th in the points - having won a race at the first round in Portugal, way back in March.
Kawasaki had already won the Manufacturers’ Title at the previous round, but the final points table read Kawasaki 347, Triumph 228, Yamaha 200, Suzuki 192, Aprilia 197, Honda 31 and Kove 20.
The Team ProDina Kawasaki XCI squad took the Team’s Championship honors on Saturday at Jerez from the MTM Kawasaki team. The final points gap on Sunday was 92 - 425 points to 333.
Although Kawasaki had the upper hand in the final analysis of the debut season of WorldSPB, this new class featured 10 individual race winners, from five different manufacturers.
“From the first moment, I had trust in myself and the team that if we had the possibility to win, then everything was possible. On Saturday we took good points for that, but today the position was safer, and I tried to finish the race as close as possible to [David] Salvador. I was able to do this, and this allowed me more breathing space in the championship. We did it. I am super happy, so I want to say thank you to all the people who believed in me, always, and also to myself, because I believed more than anyone. We worked hard for a number of years, but now this experience has paid off.”
- Xavi Artigas (MTM Kawasaki)
David Salvador (Team ProDina Kawasaki XCI), stated: “I am very happy with the season we’ve had. Throughout the year, some things happened on the track that I didn’t like, but that’s just part of racing. For my part, I always tried to give my absolute best, and I am satisfied with what I managed to achieve. I am already looking ahead to the future and thinking about next season - we have, in fact, already begun working towards it. I am confident that we can have another strong championship campaign next year. I would especially like to thank the Prodina team, Kawasaki, and everyone who is part of this squad, as they always gave their all for me.”
Antonio Torres (Team ProDina Kawasaki XCI), stated: “We’ve wrapped up the season here in Jerez, at my home race. I’m happy, yet at the same time a bit sad, because the time has come to say goodbye to the team—and especially to David, who has been such an important person to me over these past two years. During the race, when I saw David and Xavi repeatedly overtaking each other-fairly and cleanly-I decided to pass them both and try to catch up to Thompson. Unfortunately, I couldn’t quite manage it, as his pace was incredibly fast. I want to thank the entire team and all our sponsors for their support throughout these two seasons. David has always supported me and taught me so much over these two years. He is an extraordinary person, as is his entire family, and it has been a real pleasure to share this journey with them.”
Alvaro Fuertes (Deza-Box 77 Racing Team Kawasaki), stated: “I am very happy with the race finishes on the weekend. On Saturday I was third in Race One, and set the fastest lap, so on Sunday I started from P1. I was battling for a podium through all race but I finally finished in fifth position, because of the last corner overtakes. But I am very happy with this home weekend and thank you to everyone.”
Jose Osuna (Deza-Box 77 Racing Team Kawasaki), stated: “First time on the podium this year. At the beginning of the year we had some bad luck. Then we were growing up, improving the bike, and my feeling with the team and the bike. Here in our home race I expected to do a little bit more. I am happy with this podium but I wanted the victory. Today was a really difficult race because of the battle between Salvador and Artigas for the title. I did not want to make any touch to influence the championship, so I am happy with Sunday’s race. We worked a lot during this week and we did a test here also - that is the difference, too. The bike went really well, the feeling was good and here is the result.”
Steve Guttridge, KME Race Planning Manager, stated: “It is amazing what our teams have achieved in the first year of the WorldSPB category, trusting in Kawasaki’s decision to use the Ninja ZX-6R 636. All the riders did a phenomenal job, with Xavi Artigas and David Salvador challenging for the title right until the final corners of the last lap. Both of them have got very bright future careers while staying within the Team Green family.”
