Xavi Vierge, Andrea Locatelli and Pata Maxus Yamaha were disappointed to not be able to maximise their full potential on Sunday at Round 4 of the 2026 FIM Superbike World Championship at Balaton Park in Hungary, today.
Vierge did everything possible to overcome a difficult qualifying position throughout the weekend, once again coming through from P17 on the grid in the Superpole Race to the top 10 this morning, just one place shy of an improved slot for Race 2. The Spanish rider started from P15 in Race 2, but struggled under braking and with rear grip in the second half of the race, finishing 12th at the line.
This morning’s Superpole Race was also red-flagged following an unfortunate accident where Locatelli and Miguel Oliveira crashed at Turn 6, in a Lap 1 racing incident. In the revised 8 Lap restart, the team’s #55 rider served a Double Long Lap Penalty for what Race Direction deemed to be irresponsible riding – crossing the line in 13th place and putting Locatelli on the fourth row of the grid for Race 2.
An as yet unexplained high-side in Turn 17 at the end of the opening lap of the final race of the weekend ended Locatelli’s hopes of a strong Race 2 and opportunity to capitalise on his earlier form.
Beatriz Neila finished second once again for Ampito Crescent Yamaha in the FIM Women’s Circuit Racing World Championship, in an explosive Race 2 that saw four riders fight for the victory until the final corner – while teammate Chloe Jones took ninth place for Monster Energy Crescent Yamaha. Neila lies just 14 points from the championship lead at the halfway point, as the WorldWCR series takes a break from the calendar until Misano next month.
WorldSBK however will be back in action at Most in the Czech Republic in just under two weeks’ time, where Pata Maxus Yamaha has enjoyed podium performances in the past, from 15-17 May.
FULL SUPERPOLE RACE RESULTS
FULL RACE TWO RESULTS
Xavi Vierge – SPRC: P10 / Race 2: P12
“It has been a very, very difficult Hungarian Round – we have been working like crazy since Friday and it looked like in some parts of the weekend we had some positives, but today in Race 2 I was struggling a lot again especially in the second half of the race. It has been the first really tough weekend together, and there is now a lot to analyse to understand the way to follow. All I can say is thank you to Yamaha and the team for the hard work, and we have a week to look at everything and come back to Most with recharged batteries.”
Andrea Locatelli – SPRC: P13 / Race 2: DNF
“The first thing to say is about the Superpole Race – I never want another rider involved in a crash to have an injury and I am so sorry about Miguel. I do not want to speak about the decision of Race Direction to penalise me, it’s better to say nothing. With the penalties and the bad grid position, we had a lot of work to do in Race 2 but I really think we could have done well because my feeling on the bike was good – unfortunately, we do not understand yet what happened with the crash. Some really bad luck for us, but in some ways it was a positive weekend because I had a good feeling on my R1 since Friday and I was quite happy, and I always try to do my best. We need to keep moving forward and looking at the next one, for sure we need to work hard and try to improve to close the gap – this is the reality.”
Paul Denning – Team Principal, Pata Maxus Yamaha:
“After a positive Assen and a positive start to the Balaton weekend, it has turned into a difficult Hungarian Round for the Pata Maxus Yamaha team – especially today on Sunday. Yesterday’s Race 1 result gave us encouragement for today with a very solid ride for Loka and a brilliant recovery to the top 10 for Xavi, but today didn’t go to plan. On Andrea’s side, things unravelled not so much with the Lap 1 accident in the Superpole Race but more with the extremely questionable decision to award him a double long lap penalty on the restart, for Irresponsible Riding. Being hit by another rider from behind in a racing incident is one thing, but then to be penalised for it is quite another and we do not understand the decision. This compromised the Superpole Race result and also this afternoon’s Race 2, where instead of being able to start from the second row and find his flow with the fastest riders, Loka was stuck in a group when he fell from contention – we are extremely lucky that Loka has “cosmetic” injuries only after a massive last-corner high-side. From P17 on the grid, Xavi again made a great recovery in the Superpole Race to the top 10, but missed out by just one position to improve his Race 2 grid slot. We’ve been chasing the right set-up for him all weekend and of course, the team and the engineers did everything they could to improve the package for Race 2. However, Xavi suffered under braking and also with grip for the whole race and could only bring it home P12. We missed out on a big haul of points today that could have dramatically improved Loka’s championship position in particular, but we can’t look backwards and we’re now fully focused on Most and performing to our full potential in the Czech Republic.”
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