Canepa’s Comments: Round 7 – Misano

After a productive test last month, the WorldSBK teams headed to Misano with confidence and it was a strong weekend for Andrea Locatelli, who made a significant step forward with the R1 WorldSBK to enjoy his strongest round of 2026 to date.

In WorldSSP, Albert Arenas extended his championship lead with a victory and second place, while Indonesia’s Aldi Satya Mahendra returned to the podium in his strongest race of the year.

It was a landmark occasion for the 2026 R7 too, which made its debut in the FIM Sportbike World Championship, in the hands of Carter Thompson, who took second and third in the two races, fighting for victory throughout.

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

“It was a positive weekend overall in WorldSBK, the best weekend for Andrea Locatelli since the beginning of the season. The team also worked well across the weekend as he was able to close the gap to the front between the two long races, even if the position at the chequered flag was the same we saw some improvement in race time.

“It is a perfect example of how important the Superpole session is, as if you can qualify in the first three rows it is possible to have a good race. Loka’s starts were strong and he was in the top five in the first laps of all three races, so this is something we need to focus on.

“For Xavi, we see an example of how a poor qualifying can impact your weekend. His pace was not too bad, but he could not recover the positions and this meant a tough weekend for him. It seems like he has lost some of the confidence he had earlier in the season, so we have to work hard now to give him a stable base setting so he can extract the maximum from the bike, just like he did in the beginning of the season.

“It was a positive weekend for Stefano Manzi who finished in the top ten twice. Unfortunately he got run off track in Race 2 so he could not make it all three races, but for a rookie it was a positive weekend.

“Remy Gardner also saw a positive end to the weekend, finishing in eighth place in Race 2, recovering a lot of places from his grid position and showed similar if not better pace than Locatelli so this is an encouraging sign and a positive thing for him for the next rounds.

“In Supersport, it was an almost perfect weekend for Albert Arenas who led every lap but one in the two races. In Race 2, he won with a big gap and showed his great talent and how good shape he is in at the minute. In Race 1 he rode well too, but couldn’t escape and finished second after a nice fight in the last lap. It was a positive weekend overall, and he extended his championship lead and showed how we can be consistent and fast.

“Aldi Mahendra was also on the podium for the second time this season. He had a fantastic race two and started very well, showing similar pace to Arenas and set the fastest lap of the race. It is good to see the young Indoneisan rider making such progress, so congratulations to him, Albert and the whole AS BLU CRU Racing Team.

“It was a more difficult weekend for Oncu, Mahias and Garcia – Oncu had a podium in race one but struggled more in Race 2, and it was a difficult weekend for the GMT94 Yamaha riders, so we have to understand why and improve for the next round.

“It was a special weekend in the Sportbike Championship for Yamaha as it was the debut of the 2026 R7. BR Corse decided to race with the bike immediately from when it was available, without testing before, and it was the best weekend yet for Carter Thompson with a third and second place, and the best result of the season for Gaggi with eighth in Race 2 so this shows the potential of the new bike, for sure we have some margin of improvement as it was the first race with no testing, so we can extract more out of the package but the fact Carter was fighting for victory in both races shows the potential is there. Congratulations to Carter for an amazing weekend, the way he was riding was very aggressive but also very efficient. Great job by the BR Corse team!

“We have a busy few weeks coming up, first we will have the Yamaha Racing Experience in Misano this week where all our Superbike riders will attend. This is a great way to meet Yamaha customers and we always have fun at this event, especially riding the two stroke race bikes with YRHC!

“Then, Locatelli goes to Suzuka – last year he was impressive, fast and consistent in just his first experience at the race so we are looking forward to seeing him race again with Jack and Nakasuga. Suzuka is a special race for everyone and one of the most important races in the calendar so the task is to go there and fight for victory.”