Christian Iddon gets acquainted with Yamaha R1 in Spanish test

Christian Iddon was able to climb aboard the Yamaha R1 he will campaign with the Sencat by Swan Racing team in the 2026 BSB season during a test at Almeria in Spain.

Iddon was a one-time winner with FS-3 Kawasaki in 2025, but decided to depart the team for Sencat by Swan Racing for the 2026 BSB season.

While the FS-3 team is trading Kawasaki for Bimota in 2026, Sencat by Swan Racing is also undergoing a change of machinery from Aprilia to Yamaha.

The R1 is the bike which has been most successful in BSB this decade, winning four of the six championships since 2020, and so the attraction was obvious for both team and rider.

However, with neither party having had experience with the R1 before, a test before the end of 2025 was a valuable exercise in gathering an understanding of the new technical package.

“It was great to get out on track,” said Iddon.

“It was the first time in a long time that I have got out with a new team before the new year and it’s invaluable, really. 

“The bike is obviously new to me, but it is also new to the team, so it wasn’t just a learning process for me, but for the team too so to get out in a less pressured situation was a nice way of getting that first run out of the way.

“I felt comfortable ergonomically on the bike very quickly and I enjoy riding the Yamaha. It is a very different prospect of a bike and does a lot of things very differently to what I am used to from this season. 

“I had a nice sensation and feedback from the bike, which is nice to feel that early on and the bike moving underneath you and understand how it talks to you, as they are all different, so that was really good.”

Iddon added that there were no major setup experiments, but he tried a few ergonomic adjustments.

“We tried nothing major in terms of set-up as we are not really at that point yet, but we tried a few different seats, footpeg and handlebar positions, and different brake options that I can run,” he said.

“So we just got the basics out of the way, which are things that are all really simple things, but are really important and take time. The fact that we have got those done, I feel puts us ahead of the game already, so we are all good. 

“I really enjoyed it and I am looking forward to getting back out again as soon as we can.”