Positive momentum is the target to take advantage a busy month of racing for Pata Maxus Yamaha’s Xavi Vierge and Andrea Locatelli, starting this weekend at Balaton Park in Hungary for Round 4 of the 2026 FIM Superbike World Championship, from 1-3 May.
The first of three WorldSBK events coming up this month sets the stage for both Vierge and Locatelli to build on the progress made in Assen. The team’s Spaniard added to his growing experience on the #97 Yamaha R1 WorldSBK, enjoying the key strengths of the bike in the classic TT Circuit’s changes of direction to secure his best qualifying of the season so far with P5 in Superpole and a solid Sunday of results with sixth and seventh-place finishes.
Locatelli has also worked hard with his #55 crew to return to the form that saw him fight until the final round of 2025 for third in the championship – a fight that was made possible by strong performances such as the Italian’s top three qualifying in Hungary last year, backed up by two fourths and one fifth-place across the first edition of the event.
This weekend also plays host to the FIM Women’s Circuit Racing World Championship as it reaches its halfway point with Round 3 of the six-round series, before a short break until the next race at Misano in July. After Beatriz Neila won Assen’s Race 2 in spectacular fashion for Ampito Crescent Yamaha, the gap to the championship lead has been closed to just 13 points. Teammate Chloe Jones also gained increased confidence with fourth and six-place finishes for Monster Energy Crescent Yamaha at the Cathedral of Speed, hoping to take another step at Balaton where she holds the race lap record from 2025.
Track action begins for WorldWCR with Free Practice at 9:40 CEST and Superpole qualifying at 14:10 while WorldSBK will have two 45-minute sessions available on Friday with Free Practice 1 and 2 at 10:20 and 15:00 respectively.
Xavi Vierge
“I’m super happy to be back racing so soon after the last race, sometimes there is more time between races in our calendar, but it’s always better to be back on the bike quickly! The goal is to keep the ball rolling after another solid weekend in Assen. Balaton is a new track that was introduced last year for the first time, so when there is not a lot of experience for the riders and the teams, the competition can be a bit more open and we will try to take this as an opportunity. Of course, I am working at home always on my conditioning and spending time looking at the races of last year – Yamaha were competitive in 2025 and I hope we can use this as a start point to make a very good weekend in Hungary.”
Andrea Locatelli
“After Assen, let’s see what will happen now in Balaton! It was a good track for us last year, it was new for everyone but we found immediately a good rhythm and a good feeling there. I believe that we can also do a good job this year, especially after the Assen race weekend where we understood much better the direction that we need to continue to go. The results were stronger but we are continuing to work hard to improve in all areas. Let’s see what we can do, I enjoyed the track in Hungary last year and I’m enjoying riding my R1 again which is important. If we can start well and have a good pace during the weekend, I am sure we can fight for good results.”
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