Andrea Locatelli and Xavi Vierge started work in Friday Free Practice for what will prove to be the hottest race weekend of the 2026 FIM Superbike World Championship so far at MotorLand Aragon today, refining their race pace Yamaha R1 WorldSBK set-up in gruelling conditions.
Track temperatures were officially recorded as 53 degrees Celsius during Free Practice 2 this afternoon, the hottest point of the day, but the team’s direct asphalt measurement was much higher – 62 degrees at the start of FP2!
The Pirelli tyre allocation includes just four softer SCX rear tyres for the weekend, from which two tyres are to be used during Superpole, and additionally, this preferred compound of tyre in the hotter conditions is only allowed to be used for the 10-Lap Superpole Race on Sunday. It means that teams must work to generate grip using the harder SC0 tyre which is normally favoured for cooler conditions in places like Assen.
For Locatelli, the race is always the focus and the 29-year-old Italian has been looking forward to returning to the fight since the conclusion of the Misano test last week. His physical fitness in the heat is very high and with a strong qualifying tomorrow, the #55 hopes to start from a good position for the first full length race tomorrow afternoon.
Crucial confidence and “feeling” on his R1 WorldSBK was more difficult to find for teammate Vierge, who is still learning in his first full season with Pata Maxus Yamaha – especially in FP2’s hotter conditions. The #97 will work alongside his crew to analyse the data this evening and aim to take a step tomorrow with their race set-up.
Free Practice 3 begins in the morning at 9:40 CEST, due to be followed by more scorching conditions as the day heats up with Superpole qualifying at 11:15 and Race 1 will take place at the earlier time of 14:00.
FULL FREE PRACTICE RESULTS
Xavi Vierge: P13 – 1’50.096
“It has been a very tough day for us – the beginning of FP1 was not so bad, the feeling was good. But as soon as the day started to go on, I don’t know if it was because of the temperature but my feeling started to disappear – we tried many things on the bike to try to get the feeling back but it didn’t work. We need to understand what is going on because we are far away from where we want to be, so we have a long afternoon of work, to look at the data and make a new plan for tomorrow.”
Andrea Locatelli: P15 – 1’50.398
“Truly a difficult weekend in the the hot conditions that we’ve found here. It will be a difficult race to try to keep the rhythm in the heat. This afternoon I was quite happy with my R1 and I felt we were doing a good job in our preparation. I’m looking forward and I’m quite interested to see what will happen tomorrow, because for sure for everybody this will be a difficult weekend for the races. I’m happy with the work that we did during this morning and also this afternoon in FP2. Keep moving forward, believe in ourselves and try to do our best especially in Superpole – it’s important to start more in front, then it will be a long race but I feel ready to fight.”
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