On the hottest day of the weekend, Andrea Locatelli demonstrated tenacity and consistency to secure P10 in both the Superpole Race and Race 2, roared on by his home fans at the Cremona Circuit in Round 10 of the 2026 FIM Superbike World Championship.
The Italian round drew to a close on Sunday under summer-like heat, with packed grandstands turning out to witness the day’s two races at the Cremona Circuit.
The #55 and his crew made steady improvements across the weekend, helping the Italian feel increasingly comfortable on his R1 WorldSBK and seeking solutions to help with future development. After a strong Race 1 P7, “Loka” carried momentum into Sunday, fighting through to tenth in the Superpole Race and backing it up with another top-10 finish in Race 2, to cap a consistent day on home ground.
On the other side of the box, Vierge worked hard with his crew to find a better feeling with his R1 WorldSBK. The Spaniard crossed the line in P12 in the morning’s sprint race, but his afternoon ended early when he went down in Race 2 while battling within the same group as his team-mate. He and the team will work to understand the challenges faced in Cremona and come back stronger at the next round.
Attention now turns to the Circuito Estoril in Portugal in two weeks’ time – the penultimate round of the season.
Andrea Locatelli – SPRC: P10 / Race 2: P10
“For sure it wasn’t the easiest weekend for us, but we came away with some reasonable results. We scored decent points and learned a lot – we worked really hard from Friday to improve the setup – and we made some good steps and gathered plenty of useful data. So I’m quite happy with the job we’re doing, because we’re building for the future. Of course it’s still not enough, and we knew Cremona has always been a tricky circuit for us, but I think this year we showed a little more potential. I hope we can keep this trend going and continue improving at a track I really enjoy – the next race in Estoril. Now the goal is to finish the season as strongly as we can, and to keep working hard to come back in 2027 a lot more competitive.”
Xavi Vierge – SPRC: P12 / Race 2: DNF
“First of all, I want to apologise to the team – three crashes over the weekend isn’t what any of us wanted. It’s been a really difficult one. We started off reasonably well on Friday, but after the crash in FP2 we lost our way a little: we couldn’t get back the speed and the good feeling I’d had on Friday, and I was never quite able to be competitive. I gave everything to find the best setup possible, but unfortunately I went down again in Race 2. So I can only say sorry. Now we need to take a step back, understand what happened this weekend, and come back stronger.”
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