Canepa’s Comments: Round 8 – Donington Park

Donington has been a always provided exciting racing across all classes, with success for Yamaha in previous years holding incredible memories such as their first WorldSBK victories following their return to the series back in 2016.

This weekend was no different, and hosted an action-packed weekend of racing, with positive results in Superbike and strong finishes in Supersport. The weekend also seen incredible battles in the FIM Yamaha R3 BLU CRU World Cup, leaving the championship now wide open.

Here’s what Yamaha Motor Europe Road Racing Sporting Manager Niccolò Canepa had to say after the weekend:

“It was a positive weekend for Xavi Vierge after a few difficult rounds. He gave us some very good indications and started the weekend with a good feeling, which allowed him to go on to have a very good Superpole – to set the fifth quickest time is among the strongest of our qualifying performances to date and this should be applauded.

“As we have said many times, a strong qualifying leads to strong races and to finish in the top ten in all of the weekend’s races is a good result, even if it is not where we want to be. The Superpole race was his most impressive performance, riding in the top five until the closing stages.

“For Andrea Locatelli, it was quite a difficult weekend. He could not find a feeling since the start of the weekend, and we were unable to improve the package for him from Friday into Saturday, which made things hard work in the races. We have to be able to give him a better package in the next round, because we know his potential and talent.

“Remy Gardner also had a strong start to the weekend, feeling instantly comfortable with the R1 but unfortunately a big crash at the beginning of Superpole changed the course of his weekend as he had to start from the back of the grid. In the races, he was able to recover many positions, and his pace, to be honest, especially in Race 1 and the Superpole, aligned to stay with the guys in the top ten, including Xavi. This is for sure positive, albeit a missed opportunity. We have been shown so many times this year just how crucial qualifying is for the results of the weekend.

“In World Supersport, we had another positive weekend with Albert Arenas twice finishing in second place. They were two tough races with a lot of overtakes and fighting, so I’m very happy that he could increase his championship lead to 81 points. He was extremely clever in both races and managed them in the best possible way, to take the best possible result and with zero mistakes. Albert is extremely talented and if he can win the race he will deliver that, this time the win was not possible, so both times he put in two great races to increase the championship lead and this is all we can ask for.

“It was also a positive weekend for Aldi Mahednra and Roberto Garcia, they were both fast and in the leading group in both races. At the end, they both missed the podium but they are showing that they are fighting and getting there – it is encouraging to see these improvements from our younger riders.

“Can Öncü showed his speed once again by setting pole position, but yet again he struggled in the latter stages of both races. He needs to work on his race management, because he seems to be quick at the start before dropping back. Hopefully he can work on this during the break and come back stronger at Magny-Cours.

“The FIM Yamaha R3 BLU CRU World Cup saw a really exciting weekend, with the championship gap closing right up to 15 points covering the top five riders. We are really excited to see how it plays out in the final three rounds of the year.

“Now we have a bit of a break, but we’ll be working hard to ensure we can be as strong as possible in the final three rounds of the year – targeting victory in the WorldSSP championship, improvement in Superbike and of course, our first win in the new Sportbike class after coming so close in Misano.”