Canepa’s Comments: Round 4 – Balaton Park

Introduced to the calendar in 2025, the Balaton Park circuit is a technical and tricky venue, but one where Yamaha had performed strongly, with Locatelli qualifying on the front row and achieving three top six finishes last year.

After a step forward at the TT Circuit Assen; the Pata Maxus Yamaha team were excited for the weekend and with Locatelli quick from the off, he managed to secure his best Superpole of the season.

In WorldSSP, after a run of second places Albert Arenas returned to the top step in a Yamaha 1-2-3 in Race 2 with the Spaniard taking control of the championship standings to leave Hungary with a 33-point lead.

The event also marked the first round of the 2026 FIM Yamaha R3 BLU CRU World Cup, with riders from 11 different nationalities taking to the track on identical machinery.

Here’s the verdict on the weekend from Yamaha Motor Europe Road Racing Sporting Manager, Niccolò Canepa:

“First, we would like to say that the Supersport racings was fantastic over the weekend. We had almost the perfect weekend because in Race 2 we finished with three Yamaha riders locking out the podium, as well as in Race 1 finishing second and third. It was really positive overall with Albert Arenas extending his lead in the championship to 33 points.

“Can Öncü had a solid weekend with third and second place. Although a mistake in the last lap of race one cost us the possibility of first and second place but anyway it’s good to see that he had a good weekend with two podiums after a difficult start to the season.

“The surprise of the weekend was Roberto Garcia, who is really young but showed his speed. It was great to see him leading the race and showing an exceptional pace until the end when he made a mistake, but he reacted well and came back from this in the second race and was fighting with the leaders and ended up on the podium. I believe he had the pace to win the race, but we also understand that after the crash in Race 1 he just wanted to finish but I believe he has an exceptional talent and it’s good to see him grow so quickly in this championship. It’s great to have him in Yamaha.

“It was also a positive weekend for Aldi Mahendra as he was twice in the top ten with ninth in race one and eighth in Race 2. His pace was fast and consistent which was a positive for him.

“In Superbike it was great to see that we were able to give Andrea Locatelli a better package and he was fast from Friday. He enjoyed his best qualifying of the season with sixth in Superpole and he was fast all weekend. This year we were six seconds faster than last year over race distance in Race 1, which shows there has been a good level of improvement even if right now it is not enough.

“Unfortunately, we could not achieve the results we hoped to achieve on Sunday due to the unfortunate incident in the Superpole race and of course, it is never nice to see a rider injured so our best wishes to Miguel Oliveira for a speedy recovery.

“Our view is that this was a racing incident, and that Loka could have done nothing to avoid the crash. Even after speaking to race direction and reviewing the footage, we do not understand why he received a double long lap penalty. This penalty not only compromised our result in the restart, but also meant we were further back on the grid for Race 2. It is of course right that a penalty should compromise a rider’s result, but the penalty must be fair and proportionate, and, in this instance, we do not believe the penalty was deserved. Despite this, it was very positive to see Loka regain his speed and confidence with the R1 and we are pleased with his performance this weekend.

“Xavi Vierge has been consistently strong since he started with the team and has impressed us but we knew sooner or later he would have a race which was tougher than the others for him. He started at Balaton without a good feeling, which as a collective we struggled to improve over the weekend. We weren’t able to make a step forward to give him a bike that works for him to allow him to ride at 100%, and we were clearly missing something with the set-up of the bike.

“Stefano Manzi is growing and improving race by race and during the weekend. On Friday he struggled a bit because it’s difficult to adapt from his previous Supersport references, but once he adapts to the riding style on Saturday, he is always faster and on Sunday he takes another step. Despite the crash in Superpole that made him start in 17th he was able to recover many positions, especially in race two when he finished with his first top ten and very close to his teammate.

“Remy Gardner struggled a bit on Friday and Saturday as he got injured here last year so he needed to find a good feeling. On Friday and Saturday he was struggling but the team made some changes in the right direction for Sunday so he was able to finish P9 and P10 in the races on Sunday. This is very positive as the team was able to improve the package and give him more opportunities to fight for better places.

“With the first round of the FIM Yamaha R3 BLU CRU World Cup. We had 23 riders from 11 different nationalities and the racing was very nice to watch. We saw the proven success of the championship thanks to previous champion De Persio showing he is competitive and fast in Sportbike now.

“The level is quite high as the lap times are aligned with the lap times from last year which is a huge positive for the class. We also had the first win for the Dominican Republic, a Brazilian rider at the front and several very fast Japanese competitors as well showing how truly international this championship is.

“Next few weeks will be very busy because we have the Michelin test as well. The main focus will be at Most as this is a track where we have always been quite strong. We need to deliver some results particularly with Loka and to give a better package to Xavi. We believe this track will suit his riding style more than Balaton. Now we want to see more Yamaha’s fighting in the top ten.”