The PETRONAS MIE Racing Honda Team and riders Tito Rabat and Zaqhwan Zaidi are on track at Spain’s Jerez Circuit, the stage for the 2025 Superbike World Championship season finale. 

This twelfth and final race weekend got underway with free practice on Friday morning. In dry, sunny conditions, Rabat got straight to work with his technicians, making some adjustments to the technical setup of his CBR1000RR-R throughout FP1. Setting a fastest time of 1’41.240, the Spaniard positioned twenty-second in the standings at the end of this first phase. Teammate Zaidi refamiliarized himself with a track he has not seen for many years while working to adapt his bike and riding style to the track. The Malaysian rookie’s best lap, completed in 1’42.884, saw him place twenty-fifth.

Back on track for the afternoon session, which ran in higher temperatures, Rabat soon improved on his FP1 time. Focused on finding the right feeling and confidence aboard his bike, Tito worked hard with his team. Finding another six tenths, a fastest time of 1’40.256 was enough to see the Spaniard place twenty-first in Friday’s aggregate standings. Rookie Zaidi quickly took another half second off his earlier reference in FP2. His times continuing to drop as his confidence around the Spanish track grows, the Malaysian closed with a 1’42.383, to place twenty-fifth overall.

Tito Rabat #53

“We had a few things to sort out in FP1 and then improved a little this afternoon. In order to achieve the results we want, we still need to find more in terms of the setup so that we can be consistently quicker. Let’s see what we can find in tomorrow’s final practice as we get ready for Superpole and Race 1.”

Zaqhwan Zaidi #21

“Overall, practice went well today. I really like the layout of this track and have been before, though it was long ago. We need time to adapt the bike to the track, but I think we’re moving in the right direction. I think we need to change something with the setup to give me more feeling, but I think we have time to do that before Superpole and Race 1. We’ll keep working and keep focused as always.”