After a challenging start to the season, Xavi Vierge stormed to a strong sixth-place finish in Race 1 at the Autódromo Internacional do Algarve for Round 2 of the 2026 FIM Superbike World Championship in Portugal today.
The Spaniard qualified sixth on the grid in this morning’s Superpole session, earning himself a second row start for the main WorldSBK feature race at Portimão – and when the lights went out, Vierge worked to follow the podium trio as well as manage pressure from those around him. Axel Bassani and Garrett Gerloff both made moves on the team’s #97, but Vierge dug in to retake sixth with two laps remaining for a commanding finish.
Teammate Andrea Locatelli started Race 1 from P14 and made progress on the opening lap towards the front, finding more confidence with his Yamaha R1 WorldSBK in the middle part of race to reach the top ten. His progress became more difficult as the grip level dropped, and with the data from this afternoon the team will look to find a solution to help “Loka” reach his potential and join Vierge in the fight tomorrow.
Daylight savings starts in Portugal tonight, and Sunday’s Warm Up starts at the scheduled time of 9:15 WEST before the Superpole Race at 11:10 and Race 2 at 15:30.
FULL SUPERPOLE RESULTS
FULL RACE ONE RESULTS
Xavi Vierge – SP: P6 / Race 1: P6
“I’m happy with the job we did, after the difficult round in Australia to finish P6 is a solid result and we can now “start” the season from here. Honestly, I was expecting to have a little more pace to try to stay with Oliveira and Alex Lowes, but as soon as I started the race I understood they had more than me so my plan changed. I tried to keep my pace until the end and fight for the best position possible. I had a nice battle with Gerloff and Bassani, and I finished in front of them which is a nice result to finish like this in the last laps. We have a clear way to follow and will work hard with the team this afternoon to see if we are able to find a little bit more for tomorrow.”
Andrea Locatelli – SP: P14 / Race 1: P12
“We tried to do our best during the race, we know that it was not going to be easy but it looks like step-by-step, we can find a bit of feeling. I was struggling at the end of the race and couldn’t keep my rhythm, so this is for sure an area we need to work on. But in the middle of the race, I was happy and able to gain some positions up to P10 – we’re still missing something, so we will keep working hard. Looking at the data from the middle of the race, we can hopefully improve more – now, focus on tomorrow and never give up!”
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