Our commitment in World Superbike

TotalEnergies and Superbikes

After a long and fruitful collaboration with Kawasaki, highlighted by Jonathan Rea's six world championship titles between 2015 and 2020, TotalEnergies is now working hand in hand with Yamaha Motor Europe in the WSBK and FIM R3 BLU CRU World Cup. In addition to supplying fuel to the two official Yamaha teams competing in WSBK - Pata Maxus Yamaha and GYTR GRT Yamaha - TotalEnergies is also involved in the Blu Cru programme set up by the Japanese manufacturer to teach young riders. As in MotoGP, the fuel supplied in WSBK is 40% renewable, non-fossil. ‘And in the FIM R3 BLU CRU World Cup, we supply sustainable fuel,’ explains Thomas Fritsch, TotalEnergies' technical competition manager. ’It’s the first FIM World Championship to use such fuel.’ TotalEnergies' involvement with Yamaha in WSBK is complementary to its involvement in MotoGP. “We support Yamaha, a major manufacturer, with the aim of transferring new technologies from one competition to another, and beyond to the series,” explains Thomas Fritsch. ’In MotoGP, we are looking for maximum performance for a prototype engine. In WSBK, we work with less powerful, industrially produced engines that run at lower engine speeds and have different tolerances. The fuel formulation has to be less extreme, even if for both competitions, the product supplied is 40% of non-fossil origin.’ Whether for fuel or additives, the engineers from the TotalEnergies company who develop the competition products are the same as those who work on those intended for the series. ‘This is important for facilitating technology transfers,’ insists Thomas Fritsch. ‘We share Yamaha's ambition to move things forward as quickly as possible in order to lower the carbon footprint in the global industrial sector. Our shared objective is to develop new technologies that will help contribute to decarbonising the mobility of tomorrow.’ 

The stakes

This year, the Superbike World Championship is getting a makeover. With seven newcomers and a host of rider transfers, the balance of strength is shifting dramatically. After finishing second in the overall standings in his last two campaigns, Nicolo Bulega is logically emerging as the man to beat. The only rider capable of challenging Toprak Razgatlioglu last season, he is aiming for the title with the new Ducati Panigale V4R. Facing him, BMW has completely rethought its strategy. The German manufacturer has replaced its duo of Toprak Razgatlioglu and Michael van der Mark with two MotoGP winners: Danilo Petrucci and Miguel Oliveira. Despite winter testing being disrupted by rain, the Italian and the Portuguese rider intend to exploit the M1000RR to trip up Bulega and prolong the Bavarian brand's momentum. This winter, the transfer market has been a real game of musical chairs. HRC has drawn from the Grand Prix pool to recruit Somkiat Chantra and Jake Dixon. Iker Lecuona has bounced back into the official Ducati structure, while Xavi Vierge has left for Yamaha. Alvaro Bautista is giving up his factory rider status this year to join the Barni Racing team. Lorenzo Baldassarri is making his return to WorldSBK with GoEleven to replace Andrea Iannone, amid a wave of rookies led by Stefano Manzi, the reigning World Supersport champion promoted to GRT Yamaha. In the pits, the machines are evolving significantly. Ducati is moving away from its historic single-sided swingarm in favour of a conventional swingarm, while refining its aerodynamics. For its part, Kawasaki has entrusted Garrett Gerloff with a ZX-10RR Ninja equipped with much more aggressive winglets, designed to keep the bike on the ground. Finally, keep an eye on the bimota project by Kawasaki Racing Team. After four podium finishes last year by Alex Lowes, the KB998 Rimini now seems ready to compete for victory on a regular basis. 

Update in March 2026