Canepa’s Comments: Round 7 – Donington Park

Donington has been a happy hunting ground for Yamaha in previous years, and holds precious memories as the scene of their first WorldSBK victories following their return to the series back in 2016.

It was an action-packed weekend with strong results for Yamaha across the board, fighting for the podium in the top class, winning both World Supersport races and a history-making weekend in the FIM Yamaha R3 BLU CRU World Cup. Here’s what Yamaha Motor Europe Road Racing Sporting Manager Niccolò Canepa had to say after the weekend:

“We leave Donington Park happy after what can be described as a very solid weekend for Yamaha. It was nice to arrive in the UK to the sun shining, the Donington Park circuit looks great when the sun is out and it was nice to see the banking full of spectators on the Sunday.

“Donington is a track where the R1 has performed well in the past and we headed there feeling confident. Locatelli rode well across the weekend to be close to the podium in all three races to keep himself in contention for third in the championship standings as we enter the second half of the season. Two fourths and a fifth is a strong weekend and this confirms Andrea is in great shape, and it’s even more impressive when you consider last week he was in Japan testing for the Suzuka 8H on quite a different R1 and different tyres – we have seen in the past that riders struggle a bit when they first come back from these tests, but for Loka he got back up to speed quickly and made no mistakes throughout the weekend.

“It was also a positive weekend for Jonny, who had his best Superpole of the season with a strong fourth place, which is also his best dry Superpole on the R1. This then led to his best races of the season with fifth and sixth in Race 1 and the Superpole Race. Unfortunately, he had a vibration issue in Race 2, if not he could have achieved a stronger result. Speaking overall, it was a positive weekend and it was really nice to see him fighting up the front, especially in the early stages with his strong starts. Our aim is to build on this now so we can see him in this position every weekend and enjoy a strong end to the 2025 season.

“It was a good weekend also for Dominique, consistently in the top ten. He showed good pace all the way through the weekend and was not far from Loka and Jonny, especially in Race 1. We hope he can continue like this for the rest of the season as the first half of the year has been complicated for him.

“For Remy, this was an example of how important qualifying is, because he made a mistake in the Superpole session which meant he had to start 16th. In the Superbike of today, this is an issue as when you start so far back it is difficult to make your way through no matter how quick you are. Still, he was able to make his way through to the top ten in the two long races which is an impressive result considering he started so far back, but this was not the result he was aiming for. He was fast and consistent in pace but he could have achieved much more this weekend, so he needs to focus on qualifying performance in the next few races.

“In WorldSSP, the R9 continues to perform really well with victories again shared between Manzi and Öncü. It was also a very positive weekend for Lucas Mahias with two third places and there was also the pleasant surprise of Roberto Garcia fighting inside the top five in both races despite having never seen the track before and it only being his second weekend in WorldSSP with the R9, so we are really looking forward to seeing him at tracks he knows better later this year.

“Manzi maintains a strong championship lead, but Öncü is pushing hard so it will be an interesting end to the year as Manzi looks to protect the lead. We saw two exciting races and it will for sure be an exciting second half of the season.

“In the R3 Cup, we saw an important milestone this weekend as Teppei Kugawa became the first Japanese rider to win a race in this championship. This is something special for him and his Japanese supporters, but also for Yamaha as being a Japanese manufacturer this is a fantastic story. Congratulations also go to Alessandro di Persio, who continues to prove he is the reference in this class as with second place and a victory he is again the rider who scored the most points, extending his championship lead.

“There was also some close, exciting racing in the WorldWCR championship, with both races featuring big battles for the lead. It was nice to see the teams run by our WorldSBK and WorldSSP teams, Crescent, GRT, and GMT94 enjoying a strong weekend in this class and it was nice to see the home crowd getting excited about having a British rider on the podium too.

“Next, we head to a completely new circuit for WorldSBK as we visit Balaton Park in Hungary – this will be a bit of an unknown for everyone but we are excited for the challenge and look forward to getting out there.”