DAO Racing Honda began their pre-season testing campaign yesterday (Tuesday) at Monteblanco in Spain ahead of the 2026 ZYN British Superbike Championship season, with Josh Brookes and Lee Jackson back on track.
Double champion Brookes was a race-winner in 2025 with the team and began the test working with a different engine specification, meanwhile teammate Jackson will be looking to make amends in 2026 after injury hampered the second half of his season.
Brookes said: “It is always exciting to get back to the race bike and having my crew around me to prep the bike and have it ready for you so I enjoy that aspect. Testing is often an experience in the racing that I really enjoy, having the ability to make changes and find improvements and make progress.
“It is such a rewarding process, today didn’t fit that category; the engine change we tried in my bike was very noticeable the difference, but it wasn’t in what I would feel as a good direction, so hopefully day two’s specification of the engine will be more rewarding.”
Jackson said: “It feels like yesterday that the 2025 season ended, but it is nice to be back on the bike and I felt comfortable straight away. I have only had three days on track this year on a Superstock bike, which isn’t something I enjoy as much as being back on the Superbike, so we got some good laps in yesterday before lunch and got into a good rhythm.
“We are working across some key areas and I have a new crew chief and crew on my side of the garage this year, but it’s started well and testing is testing. I am not rushing into anything and we are looking forward to day two. We have lots to test and we hopefully can then go back home in a good position.”