How Somkiat Chantra is using one-off MotoGP ride to boost WorldSBK performance
Somkiat Chantra is trying to bring MotoGP ideas to WorldSBK after filling in for Joan Mir at Motegi.
Somkiat Chantra’s Motegi MotoGP experience is something he’s trying to bring to WorldSBK this weekend at the Estoril Round.
Chantra filled in for the sick Joan Mir at the Japanese MotoGP last weekend, finishing fifth in a ride that out-did any of his showings during his 2025 season in the premier class.
The Thai rider said after the race last weekend that he felt much better on the MotoGP at Motegi this year than at any point during 2025. Now he says that some of the things he tried on the electronics side last weekend he is trying to implement in WorldSBK.
“It was really nice to come back again in MotoGP and also it’s nice to go back with Honda, and we tried to work with the electronics side,” Somkiat Chantra told WorlSBK.com after FP2 in Estoril.
“Also we tried to take that in World Superbike – some points are good, some points are not good, but for me it was really nice to go there again to bring something from there to put here.”
Chantra finished 13th on Friday, and said that recent progress has been helped by the arrival of Jake Dixon to the team after he missed most of the season through injury.
“We need to improve more,” Chantra said.
“We were getting better and better, and also Jake [Dixon] when he’s come back he’s tried to work on electronics side and also setup side. We improved together and this for me was really nice because when he came back we could see immediately he was fast.
“I tried electronics from him, also maybe some parts he tried from me, and we tried to improve together. This worked really nice, and also the team worked really hard from the beginning of the year until now.”
On Honda’s apparent recent progress, Chantra added: “I was really happy with some new setup of the bike, some electronics side. When I’m riding I feel like I’m enjoying to ride, not like before when riding and I felt it was so difficult riding the bike and I wasn’t enjoying.
“After that, when we had a good setup and also good electronics, I feel I’m enjoying to ride.”
Alex joined the Crash.net team in August of 2024 having covered consumer and racing motorcycle news at Visordown for two years.
