Another top six result for Xavi Vierge was backed up by seventh-place in Race 2, while Pata Maxus Yamaha teammate Andrea Locatelli converted a Superpole Race P9 into an eighth-place fightback at the TT Circuit Assen for Round 3 of the 2026 FIM Superbike World Championship in the Netherlands, today.
Despite cold temperatures and the threat of rain, both the Superpole Race this morning and Race 2 took place in dry conditions. Vierge kicked of the 10-lap sprint with a strong start to fourth, running sixth through the middle of the race and bettering Danilo Petrucci on the last lap. The team’s Spanish rider, in just his third round in Yamaha Racing blue, tried to go with the front group at the start of Race 2 once again. While the frenetic race pace made tyre management challenging, Vierge delivered another positive top seven result and added to his growing experience of the R1 WorldSBK.
A last corner pass into ninth place in the Superpole Race kept Locatelli on the first three rows of the grid for Race 2 this afternoon, but after being pushed wide at the chicane at the end of the first lap, the #55 worked with determination to claw back positions throughout the 21 Laps to finish in eighth place, less than a second behind teammate Vierge.
Beatriz Neila and Ampito Crescent Yamaha celebrated victory in Race 2 of the FIM Women’s Circuit Racing World Championship, with a breath-taking last-lap overtake into the famous Geert Timmer Chicane, much to the crowd’s delight. Teammate Chloe Jones also fought hard to secure a strong sixth-place finish on her Monster Energy Crescent Yamaha R7.
Round 4 will once again feature both WorldSBK and WorldWCR classes, this time at Balaton Park in Hungary at the very start of next month from 1-3 May.
FULL SUPERPOLE RACE RESULTS
FULL RACE TWO RESULTS
Xavi Vierge – SPRC: P6 / Race 2: P7
“After the race of yesterday, we learnt a lot! It was a hard night for me, I did a lot of thinking – I thought about 2,000 better starts and 2,000 better races overnight! In the Superpole Race, I had a good start in the front group and this helped to take the maximum of my riding style. We tried to fight until the end for a good position and in the last corner I was able to overtake Petrucci for sixth. Then again, in the long race I made a good start and I was trying to go with the front six, until the last four laps when my front tyre was destroyed. Even like this, it was a solid weekend and it’s only the third round together with Yamaha. Of course, we were expecting more but we need to take the positives. I think the team and myself are doing a good job, we are understanding our way and improving. Race 1 yesterday was not the best for the tyres, but we always can learn and improve – we need to discover where the limit is in all the aspects. I’m happy, thank you so much to the team for all their hard work and now, we will move forward together to Balaton.”
Andrea Locatelli – SPRC: P9 / Race 2: P8
“Race 2 was a bit unlucky, I’m disappointed because at the beginning one rider put me out of the track at the last chicane – so I lost a lot of positions and a lot of time. I tried to recover but it was not easy in the first laps because the pace was fast, then step-by-step and lap-by-lap I was improving. I found my rhythm and I was able to recover and finish in a good position – still not where I want to be, but in any case, we know that we are working hard and compared to the previous weekends in Portimao and Phillip Island, we did a much better job. I don’t want to say that we have are back, but for sure we have made a step, I enjoyed the races and it looks like we understand where we were struggling before. Let’s see what can happen in Hungary, it was a good track for me last year.”
Paul Denning – Team Principal, Pata Maxus Yamaha:
“The target for the Assen weekend was to continue to progress towards the front of the pack and to be as competitive as we possibly can, particularly with an eye on Andrea getting back to being the “old Loka”. Overall, we leave here with those targets pretty much achieved – top six in qualifying and in two of the races; a strong weekend for Xavi and a good recovery of form for Loka. Our focus at the moment can only be to maximise the potential of the package and of our riders, and we are getting there step-by-step. Yamaha is working super hard to add performance to the bike and as a team, we can always do more to get the absolute best out of every aspect. We have two riders that never give up, are super high-quality professionals and are both ready to take the next step in performance
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