Albert Arenas put one hand on the 2026 FIM Supersport World Championship trophy with his 16th podium of the season in Race 2 at the Cremona Circuit, Italy. Second place on Sunday in Italy means the Spaniard can clinch the title with a podium in Race 1 next time out in Estoril, regardless of where his rivals finish.
Clearly frustrated to miss out on the win on Saturday, Arenas (AS BLU CRU Racing) came out fighting in Sunday’s second race to lead from the early laps and while he was able to build up a decent lead, he was reeled in by Jeremy Alcoba towards the end of the race. Giving it his all, Arenas was unable to match his rivals pace at the end without taking risks, so brought it home in a safe second place continuing his record of at least one podium finish at every round in 2026 so far.
Filippo Farioli (VFT Racing) concluded a strong home round following on from Saturday’s podium finish with a fine fifth place.
It was a challenging weekend for the remainder of the Yamaha R9 riders. Lucas Mahias (GMT94 Yamaha) salvaged a tenth place finish after his crash on Saturday, ahead of Pata Yamaha Ten Kate Racing rider Can Öncü, who was fighting in the top six initially but dropped back to 11th by the end of the race. Aldi Satya Mahendra (AS BLU CRU Racing) crashed out in the early stages, while Yuki Okamoto (Pata Yamaha Ten Kate Racing) finished 23rd. Roberto Garcia (GMT94) retired from the race with three laps to go.
Arenas now sits 86 points clear atop of the standings, meaning he will be crowned World Champion in Race 1 in Estoril if he can finish the race with a lead of 75 points or more. The penultimate round takes place in Portugal in two weeks’ time.
Albert Arenas (AS BLU CRU Racing) – Race 2: 2nd, Championship: 2nd
“It was a long race, and I gave it everything today. From the beginning I was super focussed on making a good start, I tried to build a gap doing my own pace but I was missing a little bit in a few areas, so we couldn’t quite maintain the gap. I led almost all of the race, but today Jeremy was just that little bit faster so fair play to him. I feel much better today than I did yesterday, and this is important as this was the maximum today. Every time we get a strong result the championship becomes more of a reality, but I am fully focused on delivering in every single race and the championship will be a consequence of that. Right now, I am focused on trying to win the next race and the rest will sort itself out.”
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