Ducati takes the Superbike fight to Japan — and wins
Not content with dominating the Superbike World Championship, Ducati has taken the fight to Japan’s manufacturers on their home turf — and come away with the country’s premier national road racing title.
Ryo Mizuno has secured the 2026 All Japan JSB1000 Championship aboard the SDG Ducati Team Kagayama Panigale V4 R, making Ducati the first non-Japanese manufacturer to win the premier-class title in the championship’s history.
And this was no last-round smash-and-grab. Mizuno won eight of the season’s 10 races, securing the championship with a race to spare at Suzuka.
Mizuno seals historic title at Suzuka
The decisive victory came on Saturday, October 24, when Mizuno won the opening race of the season finale.
Starting third in wet conditions, Mizuno briefly surrendered the lead to Honda’s Tetsuta Nagashima before reclaiming top spot on lap three. He then pulled clear to win the 14-lap encounter by 6.442 seconds over Yamaha’s Katsuyuki Nakasuga.
His eighth victory of the campaign settled the championship before Sunday’s final race, completing a breakthrough season for Mizuno, Team Kagayama and Ducati.
A Japanese rider and team delivered the result, but the motorcycle carrying them to the title came from Bologna. For Japan’s manufacturers, the Panigale V4 R has now become a championship-winning rival in their own domestic series.
A clean sweep in WorldSBK
The Japanese success follows an extraordinary World Superbike campaign in which the Aruba.it Racing – Ducati squad won every race.
Nicolò Bulega claimed the riders’ championship with 32 victories and four second places from 36 starts. Team-mate Iker Lecuona won the remaining four races, giving the factory Ducati team a clean sweep of the 2026 season.
That success has been repeated across a broad spread of championships, with the Panigale V4 R collecting titles in Britain, Germany and Asia.
Harrison Voight won the Australian Superbike Championship ahead of three fellow Ducati riders, while Kyle Ryde secured the British Superbike crown and Lukas Tulovic took the German EuroMoto Superbike title.
Hafizh Syahrin also claimed the Asia Superbike championship for a second consecutive year.
Supersport success adds to the haul
Ducati’s production-based racing success has extended beyond the Superbike ranks.
Josh Herrin delivered a fourth consecutive Daytona 200 victory, Darryn Binder won the MotoAmerica Supersport Championship, and Luke Stapleford secured the British Supersport title.
Mizuno’s Japanese championship adds another historic first to that collection, taking Ducati’s Superbike success directly into the domestic competition of its Japanese rivals.
