The PETRONAS MIE Racing Honda Team is making final preparations for the eighth WorldSBK championship round, to be staged at the brand-new Balaton Park Circuit in Hungary this coming weekend. 

The squad’s preparations for this next round include confirming Tito Rabat as its rider for the rest of the 2025 season. Having made his debut with the team at the recent UK round, the Spaniard will join Zaqhwan Zaidi in the garage for the five remaining rounds. Rabat had chance to ride the CBR1000RR-R for the first time at Donington, where he started to build experience and confidence with the bike and team. The 36-year-old is ready and willing to gain more of an understanding of the Honda, work that will continue already this weekend. As for Balaton, Tito has some knowledge of the track, having made some laps with a standard bike during a test session in June, alongside many of the SBK riders.

Last on track at Misano, Zaidi returns to the garage with fresh motivation. Having faced a series of challenges over the first half of the season, the Malaysian rookie is looking to put together a stronger and more positive second half. Zaidi was not on track at Balaton during the one-day test in June, but the team does at least have the data and knowledge of teammate Tito as a reference when practice kicks off on Friday. 

The Balaton Park Circuit was inaugurated in May 2023. Despite originally featuring on the 2024 WorldSBK calendar, ongoing work at the track ultimately prevented that event from taking place. WorldSBK nevertheless represents the facility’s first staging of an international event, teams and riders all eager to see if the circuit is up to the challenge. The track, measuring 4.075 km in length, comprises 16 corners, with six right turns and ten left turns. The circuit's facilities include 48 pit garages, VIP areas and lounges, a media centre, medical centre, and two additional support paddock areas.

Not only will Balaton Park welcome the production-derived championship for the first time, it will also have the honour of hosting the 1000th WorldSBK race, a milestone that will be reached with Sunday's Superpole race.

Tito Rabat #53

“Firstly, I’m very happy to confirm that I’ll continue with the PETRONAS MIE Racing Honda Team for the rest of the 2025 season. Donington gave me a first opportunity to work with the team and the bike, but I think Balaton might be a track that better suits the Honda style. I had chance to ride there with the standard bike last month and I think it can be good for us, as it involves lots of hard braking and stop-starts. Hopefully they’ve resurfaced a few of the chicanes, or it might be a problem this weekend; we’ll see. But I think we can do a good job from here until the end of the season and I’m confident that we’ll see an upgrade already this weekend in Hungary. Let’s go for it!”

Zaqhwan Zaidi #21

“I’m looking forward to getting back on my bike, and this time it’s at a track where nobody has yet raced. I’ve been training hard and feel ready for this next challenge. I haven’t tested at Balaton, while most of the SBK field was there for a test last month, so that means I’ll have more to do on Friday as I work to understand the track as quickly as possible. I’ll do my best as always, and we’ll see what we can do.”

Track information:

Country: Hungary
Name: Balaton Park Circuit
Length: 4.075 km
Corners: 10 left-hand, 6 right-hand
Pole position: left  

SBK RECORDS: new circuit

PREVIOUS SBK RESULTS: new circuit

Weekend schedule (CET):

Friday
10.20 - 11.05 – SBK Free Practice 1
15.00 – 15.45 – SBK Free Practice 2

Saturday
9.00 – 9.20 – SBK Free Practice 3
11.00 – 11.15 – Superpole
14.00 – SBK Race 1

Sunday
9.00 – 9.10 – SBK Warm-up
11.00 – Superpole race
14.00 – SBK Race 2