The Cremona test by Gerloff, on the Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10RR, was held over two dry days in August, and proved to be an ideal opportunity for the team and rider to work on alternative settings and also find a base for the particular challenges of this unique circuit layout.
A short, generally tight and unmistakably ‘stadium-style’ circuit, Cremona is a relatively new WorldSBK venue, which first saw action on the world stage in 2024. Gerloff secured fourth place in one of the Cremona races in its first season.
Cremona can truly be thought of as a home circuit for the Puccetti Racing-operated Kawasaki WorldSBK team, as it is only 60km away from the team’s base in Reggio Emilia.
After the most recent round in Magny-Cours recently, three-quarters of the 2026 WorldSBK season has now been completed, with Gerloff in an eighth-place overall ranking. He has secured 126 points in all. Garrett’s best result this year is fourth position, which he recorded in Race One at the Autodrom Most.
WorldSBK’s Cremona weekend sees the race schedule revert to its standard format, meaning both main 23-lap Superbike races will start at the same time on Saturday 26 and Sunday 27 September - at 15.30 hours. The ten-lap Superpole Race will take place at 11.10 on Sunday.
The first on-track action for Garrett will be two free practice sessions, to be held on Friday, before a short FP3 session and then Superpole Qualifying on Saturday.
After Cremona, there will be one ‘free’ weekend before the championship concludes with two Iberian races on consecutive weekends. The Circuito Estoril in Portugal and the Circuito de Jerez Angel Nieto will host the final two rounds, with the action at Estoril beginning on Friday, 9 October.
Garrett Gerloff stated: “The Cremona track is very particular and I like it. We carried out some testing here a few weeks ago and, two years ago at this very circuit, I came close to the podium, finishing fourth. My feeling with the bike is now consistently good, as our results in France at the previous round demonstrated. Here in Italy, at what we consider our team’s home race, I want to be fighting at the sharp end of the classification and achieve the kind of results that would make our sponsors and all the Italian Kawasaki fans happy.”