After coming back from injury and the return to FIM Supersport World Championship, Dominique Aegerter looking forward to head into the winter break in a relaxed way.
A two-day test at the Jerez de la Frontera racetrack in the very southern part of Spain marked the beginning of a new chapter in Dominique Aegerters career, which was significant in two respects. Firstly, it was an important opportunity to assess his fitness after the 35-year-old broke the fifth metacarpal bone on his right-hand in a practice accident earlier last October, forcing him to miss the last two race weekends of the 2025 season.
More importantly, however, Aegerter took the opportunity to embark on a new, highly ambitious project with the Kawasaki WorldSSP Team this week, which also marks his return to the middle category of the WorldSBK series, where he has enjoyed his greatest successes to date.
The test on Wednesday and Thursday was accompanied by good weather, so that despite chilly conditions in the morning, track time could be fully utilized from the later morning hours onwards. After initial difficulties getting used to the less powerful race bike from the Japanese manufacturer with its distinctive green branding, the experienced rider from the canton of Bern completed 132 laps on both days and achieved a personal best maker of 1:43.492 on Thursday.
This weekend, Aegerter will once again accept Valentino Rossi's irresistible invitation to take part in the meanwhile legendary «La 100 km dei Campioni» at the famous Italian’s VR46 Ranch in Tavullia.
#77 Dominique AEGERTER (Kawasaki WorldSSP Team, Kawasaki ZX-6R 636)
«My first test with the Kawasaki Supersport bike was no walk in the park. After three seasons in Superbike, I had little troubles to adjusting. It took me a few laps to get used to the Kawasaki Ninja and the engine and to redefine braking points and line selection. It was all very different from what I had been used to over the past three years. But I immediately felt comfortable with the team, even though all members were strangers to me. It also took time to build up trust with the people and get everyone on the same line in terms of communication. Another challenge was coordinating with the electronics and data engineers to see how they work and what I need so that I can adapt my riding style to the bike, or rather, how they can help me do that. But it was immediately clear that our package is competitive, because my team mate Jeremy Alcoba was very fast on both days. Of course, he has a year of experience with the bike and rode the last race of the season here in Jerez whereas for me, on the other hand, it was my comeback aboard a race bike after six or seven weeks. That's why I felt a little stiff on the morning of the second day.»
«Nevertheless, it was incredibly good to have had a test before going into the winter break, because there is a lot to do and a lot of data to analyze in order to learn from it. But I think we have a strong package and if everyone pulls together, we can achieve good results next year. For me, these two days went very positively, even though I had hoped for a bit more. Secretly, I would have liked to have been a bit closer to my team mate or even being faster than him. Nevertheless, I am now looking forward to the winter months, during which I will train hard and also take a short vacation. After that, I will come back highly motivated for 2026 and give my 100 percent from the first test onwards to push this ambitious project forward. Finally, a big thank you to the entire team, because they did a great job over these two days. I am very happy to be riding for Kawasaki and Manuel Puccetti's team. See you again in January, guys! But first, I am looking forward to this weekend, when I will be back at Valentino Rossi's legendary event in Tavullia.»
#JerezTest – Combined Practice Times WSSP:
1 Jeremy ALCOBA / SPA / Kawasaki WorldSSP Team / Kawasaki ZX-6R 636 / 1´42.167 (Day 2)
2 Corentin PEROLARI / FRA / Honda Racing WorldSSP / Honda CBR600RR / 1´42.218 +0.051 (Day 2)
3 Matteo FERRARI / ITA / WRP Racing / Ducati Panigale V2 / 1´42.282 +0.215 (Day 2)
4 #77 Dominique AEGERTER / SWI / Kawasaki WorldSSP Team / Kawasaki ZX-6R 636 / 1´43.492 +1.325 (Day 2)