Max Symonds uses EBC Brakes Racing’s GPFAX pads and X-Series floating discs
Wiltshire-based motorcycle racer, Max Symonds has been competing in the British Superbike Championship’s National Superstock category for a number of years.
The rider, who also won Castle Combe Circuit’s NG Road Racing ‘King of Combe’ race in 2025, switched from his Yamaha R1 to a Honda CBR 1000RR Fireblade last year, continuing to use this bike and its EBC Brakes Racing’s GPFAX pads and X-Series floating discs setup for the 2026 season.
Following some great rides towards the back end of 2025, Symonds has since been busy testing for another busy summer of racing ahead, laying down rubber at three tracks across Europe recently.
Read his thoughts on testing and the year ahead in his own words below…
“The 2026 pre-season has been all about putting in lots of laps, learning as much as possible, and building momentum for the year ahead. Lots of time on track at Portimão, Almería and Castle Combe – three totally different tracks – have all helped me and the team step things up in different ways.”
Portimão
“We kicked things off at the awesome Portimão circuit that has everything from blind crests and heavy braking sections to big drops super high speed corners. To go fast here you’ve got to commit everywhere.
“It ended up being a really fun and productive weekend from the first session right through to the last. From the first session out, things just started clicking and we kept building from there. Being away from a race event meant I could enjoy riding the bike without any pressure and have the opportunity to try different things with my riding style and position on the bike that I would not normally have the time to do.
“I managed to put in a new PB too, which was a bonus but the bigger win was the progress made with my riding.”
Almeria
“Next up was Almeria. A tight, technical track with not much time to breathe. With five days on track, this one was all about getting my head down and putting the laps in.
“I had a plan in mind to make the most of the track time we had which started out with just doing lots and lots on laps using hard tyres that would last the distance. This allowed me to learn the track, understand how to ride around the lack of grip that came with harder compound tyres, and work more on my riding style on the bike. The second half of the test was all about starting to try different electronic settings to understand what different changes felt like, what suited my riding style and what didn’t, and what I would need to test further back in the UK. The Final runs of the test were about putting in some real fast laps, despite some high winds I improved my lap time by almost a second to be the fastest rider in the test out of about 135 people.”
Castle Combe
“Last stop was Castle Combe Circuit. It was bright and sunny, but absolutely freezing. Even so, we managed to get some really solid laps in and worked through a busy program of electronic setups with the traction control, anti-wheel, power modes, and engine braking.
“Despite the colder weather it felt great to be back at Combe. There’s something about riding at my home track that hits a bit different, especially right before the season starts. We ended the day and finished off this run of testing with lots more learnt about the bike …not quite time to go BSB racing just yet as for some extra testing in March I will be joining NG Road Racing, my old club, for their pre-season test day at Castle Combe and first round of racing at Brands Hatch.”
GPFAX Pads
EBC’s GPFAX Sintered Race Brake Pads are for RACE ONLY use. This is a blend of brake pad that has higher friction and far better grip than any other brake product on the market.
X-Series Floating Discs
Since their introduction, EBC’s ultra-lightweight floating motorcycle rotors have become one of the worlds best selling lightest and best performing discs available for all modern sport bikes.
