The 2026 FIM Superbike World Championship resumed this weekend after the summer break, with the sun shining down on the Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours.
The French circuit has traditionally been strong for Yamaha in the WorldSBK class, so hopes were high ahead of the weekend. A strong Superpole for Xavi Vierge set him up for a trio of top ten finishes, while Remy Gardner was also on the pace, although hampered when he lost out on a third row start due to a yellow flag infringement in the Superpole session.
In WorldSSP, Yamaha dominated the story with Can Öncü taking his first win of the season while GMT94 Yamaha’s Roberto Garcia took a maiden win in race two, an emotional one for the team at their home race.
Carter Thompson yet again led the way in WorldSPB for Yamaha, taking another podium in second place. Here are the thoughts of Yamaha Motor Europe’s Road Racing Sporting Manager, Niccolò Canepa on how the weekend went.
Xavi Vierge had three top ten finishes
“After the break, it was quite a positive weekend and we were able to stay consistently in the top ten. Xavi was quite strong during the weekend and showed pace to finish in the top ten in each race. He was a professional as always, with great feedback and important progression during the weekend. It was also a good weekend for Remy, he was unlucky to lose his Superpole lap because of yellow flags and also for the crash after the touch with Xavi in Race 1. He had a fantastic Superpole race finishing eighth, and tenth in Race 2 made it one of his strongest weekends of the year.
“There were a lot of changes for Locatelli during the weekend, including a new crew chief. The reason for this was to try and help Loka find the form and confidence that has been missing a bit this season. Unfortunately an issue in FP2 meant he did not get as much track time on the Friday as he needed, and while there was progress throughout the weekend it was hard to see how much progress had been made as he crashed in Race 2 after contact with Manzi. I think it could have been the strongest race of his weekend, fighting inside the top ten with Xavi. It will be important to continue the progress at this week’s Cremona test to see if we can re-find some of the confidence that saw him finish fourth in the championship last year.
“On Friday, Manzi was the Yamaha rider with the strongest pace overall but he had a big highside in Saturday’s race. This made the weekend more difficult as he was a bit sore and not at 100%, so I think he could have done a bit better. He also crashed in Race 2 so it was a weekend to forget for him. We’ve seen a lot of improvement from him this year and I do believe without the Race 1 crash it could have been a different weekend. We’ll keep working, and the test in Cremona will be important for this.”
Roberto Garcia took a maiden victory in WorldSSP
“It was a thrilling weekend in WorldSSP with a lot of positives, including Can Öncü and Roberto Garcia winning races. On Saturday, we saw Albert Arenas crash after contact with another rider and we thought he had a broken hand. This was a worry, as a double non-score is not what we want at this stage of the championship. To be honest, he did a great job to fight through the pain on Sunday. Magny-Cours was a new track for him and he could not test in the summer, so he did a good job to finish second and in front of his main opponent in the championship especially considering the pain! It was a really special performance. The gap in the standings is a bit smaller than before, but we are also one round closer to the end of the season.
“It was great for Yamaha in general, as we were 1-2 in both races. Öncü took his first victory of the season, and Garcia took his first victory in the World Championship – this was also an emotional victory for the GMT94 team because they are based in France and they have not won a race since 2021, so for Roberto to win his first race in their home round is something really special and I want to congratulate the whole team.”
Carter Thompson finished second in WorldSPB Race 2
“Carter Thompson stepped up to fourth in the championship with another strong weekend in World Sportbike. Race 1 was a bit tough, but he made a good step in Race 2 to fight for the win and eventually finish second. The target is now for him to finish third in the world championship and hopefully we can achieve a win in the final races.
“In the FIM Yamaha R3 BLU CRU World Cup, it was great to see Japanese rider Riichi Takahira take the double victory, meaning he is now in championship contention just 11 points off Xarly Mendez in the standings. Rintaro Takemoto was also on the podium in both races, with a Japanese 1-2 in Race 1 which was a first in the history of the championship. It’s great to see these talented riders arriving from Asia race-ready, and we hope to see more riders coming through this path through the step-up programme and following in the footsteps of Aldi Mahendra.
“This week has also been a big week as we confirmed our rider line-up for 2027 with Jack Miller joining Andrea Locatelli, Remy Gardner and Stefano Manzi. Of course, this means we say goodbye to Xavi Vierge. I personally believe he is one of the best riders in this championship and he has done a fantastic job for us this season and it has been great to have him as part of the team. We all genuinely wish him all the very best of success in the future.It’s great to welcome Jack to WorldSBK with Yamaha, we believe he will be a big help for the overall championship and for Yamaha over the next years, so we are very excited to announce this news for the future.”
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