Andrea Locatelli, Xavi Vierge and Pata Maxus Yamaha closed out the Czech Round of the 2026 FIM Superbike World Championship at Autodrom Most today, with Locatelli’s fightback to a ninth-place finish in Race 2 providing fuel to push on to a two-day performance test at Misano World Circuit this coming week.
The team’s 29-year-old Italian rider came through to 11th place in the Superpole Race this morning, but finishing outside of the all-important top nine positions meant he was not able to improve his grid position for Race 2. Starting from P15, Locatelli progressed into the top 10 immediately on Lap 1, running 11th through the middle race distance until he was able to work his way forward from Lap 16 – finishing just a few seconds back from the battle for fifth place.
A frustrating crash at Turn 1 on the second lap of the Superpole Race was not what teammate Vierge hoped for today, but the Spanish rider attacked Race 2 with the same calm and level-headed approach he has brought to the project since joining Yamaha late last year. From P13, he found a good rhythm initially and tried to work his way forward in the race, but struggled to feel comfortable with the stability of his Yamaha R1 WorldSBK through Most’s many changes of direction during the final long race of the weekend. Despite getting close to Locatelli mid-race, he eventually crossed the line in 11th place.
Pata Maxus Yamaha travel directly to Misano tomorrow for testing, with Locatelli and Vierge on track from 20-21 May, ahead of the next round of the championship at MotorLand Aragon from 29-31 May.
FULL SUPERPOLE RACE RESULTS
FULL RACE TWO RESULTS
Andrea Locatelli – SPRC: P11 / Race 2: P9
“With the Balaton injury, Friday was a little bit difficult for me in the beginning, but with the support of our team physio Patrick I was able to feel better step by step. From FP2 onwards, in general I found a good feeling with my R1 and we’ve been working hard all the way through until the end of Race 2 today – trying to find a good solution on the set-up to improve and in the end, we finished both races in the top 10. It’s not the results we want, but let’s say we keep working in the right direction and it’s also true that the top five was not far away. I tried to do my best in every session, keep the focus, work on myself and if I can do something on my side it’s also to keep a positive attitude and give my best. We need to consider everything and try to maximise what have, we know that our competitors are also working hard and it’s not easy to be there fighting. I’m really looking forward to the Misano test this week, it is important that we can properly assess what Yamaha has been working on in good conditions and look to take another step in some clear areas where we need to improve.”
Xavi Vierge – SPRC: DNF / Race 2: P11
“It has been a difficult weekend again like Balaton, but we need to take the positives – here in Most I had a much better feeling with the bike. We showed in some parts of the weekend good speed, but the races didn’t go like we expected. Finally, we are missing something – we are looking to find how we can close the gap with the top five but we are still a little bit far away. As a group we are working so hard to move forward and now have two days testing in Misano that will be super important – as you know, it’s my first year with Yamaha and the pre-season testing conditions weren’t the best. Every weekend for me is a bit new and the main thing is to understand the best way to improve, therefore it will be super important to have two very good days of testing in Misano. Once again, thanks to the team – it was not an easy weekend and everyone was working at their maximum, but we move forward and soon I believe we will start to close the gap with the front guys.”
Paul Denning – Team Principal, Pata Maxus Yamaha:
“In many ways, our weekend in the Czech Republic has reflected the Hungarian event only two weeks ago. A big effort by team and riders, but we didn’t quite achieve the results we were looking for – more than that, honestly speaking, I don’t believe we achieved the results we are capable of. We need to maximise our potential with the tools available to us in the pit box from Friday morning and ensure that what hits the track for Race 1 is the best possible version of the Yamaha R1 WorldSBK that it can be. Loka rode two really strong races from way back on the grid and in the end was close in Race 2 to the top five, which at this stage in the championship has to be our target. Xavi’s Superpole Race accident today didn’t set him up in the best way for Race 2, but he also found a good rhythm until struggling towards the end with a combination of stability and arm pump issues. On such a physical track as Most, that’s a common challenge and something to be worked on in terms of machine setting as we go forward. Yamaha’s engineers have made a big effort preparing a lot of material to test in Misano next week – the Pata Maxus Yamaha race transporters leave at 5am on Monday morning to get across to Italy for what will prove to be a very important two days, in order to increase our performance from Aragon onwards.”
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