Spaniard Xavi Vierge and teammate Andrea Locatelli leave MotorLand Aragon with a sense of “what might have been” after a challenging final day in Round 6 of the 2026 FIM Superbike World Championship.
The #97 Pata Maxus Yamaha crew found a significant step forward in setting that enabled Vierge to deliver strong pace on his R1 WorldSBK in the 10-Lap Superpole Race, where he was battling hard within the front group of riders just a couple of seconds away from the podium positions. Vierge didn’t get a chance to demonstrate his talent in Race 2, after pushing hard off the start to regain positions on the opening lap, he lost the rear of his bike in Turn 1 and despite being able to save the crash initially, slowed down and was hit from behind after falling into the path of Lorenzo Baldassari.
Locatelli’s sprint race was cut short on Lap 2, when he was taken out of contention by Tarran Mackenzie’s crash at Turn 7. Without Race 1 data with which to improve his set-up from yesterday, it was an uphill battle for the team’s Italian rider in Race 2. Locatelli crossed the line P13 while carrying a small injury to his right-hand fifth finger from this morning.
Pata Maxus Yamaha will remain in Aragon for two days of testing alongside the rest of the WorldSBK field starting tomorrow, before the Emilia Romagna Round in just under two weeks’ time from 12-14 June.
FULL SUPERPOLE RACE RESULTS
FULL RACE TWO RESULTS
Xavi Vierge – SPRC: P10 / Race 2: DNF
“A very hard weekend for us, but we need to take the positives – from yesterday to today, we made some quite big changes on my R1 and it looks like we are starting to see a bit the light. The feeling on the Warm Up and Superpole Race was good and the pace was strong. I felt like I could use the maximum potential of the bike and exploit our strong points. It was a pity to crash in Race 2, because in the hot conditions is where we were struggling the most and we wanted to see what we could do with the changes. Unfortunately, I could not do any laps because at Turn 1 as soon I opened a little bit of throttle, I lost the rear – I was able to save it, but of course I lost speed and the rider behind me hit me. So, I am sorry for that – we are trying hard, we will keep working with all we have to be where we need to be.”
Andrea Locatelli – SPRC: DNF / Race 2: P13
“Finally, I finished Race 2, because yesterday we were unlucky and I crashed after four laps. Today in the Superpole Race, same story after one lap when Tarran crashed and took me with him. We didn’t get any race distance data and my fifth finger was also injured in the crash – the small one on the right hand. In Race 2, for sure I was suffering a little bit and I was trying to ride well because it’s important for us to try to do our best like always, but this did not help. We did our race to understand where is our potential – from the beginning of the weekend it looked good, not too bad qualifying, but then it looks like we lost a bit of the performance during the long race and unfortunately, we didn’t finish yesterday. A difficult weekend for us, but we need to look forward, be positive. We have two days of testing here, we will keep working and let’s see what will happen. Looking forward to starting again in Misano.”
Paul Denning – Team Principal, Pata Maxus Yamaha:
“There is no hiding behind the fact that it has been a tough Aragon WorldSBK weekend for Pata Maxus Yamaha. Both the riders did good lap times and performed well on the first exit of qualifying yesterday, but unfortunately made errors on their second exit which is generally where those last couple of tenths to improve the lap time come from – and this compromised our starting positions. For Loka, Race 1 was meaningless with the accident after just a few laps and it looks like, in the main, the new development Pirelli front was the incorrect tyre choice for both riders, and that this was the biggest compromise to our performance. We improved Xavi’s package significantly for Sunday and a strong run in the Superpole Race, only 4.8 seconds from the podium is the closest we’ve been to that target all year. But, unfortunately with the strength of the field being what it is, the P10 result didn’t help for Race 2’s starting position. He pushed hard from the start and tried to make up places in Turn 1, which you have to do – and unfortunately lost the rear causing an accident with Baldassarri, which of course we apologise to Lorenzo for as well. We’re lucky that Xavi is ok and – in what feels like has been the situation many times this year – we leave Aragon on his side of the pit box with a feeling of “what might have been”. Loka’s Superpole Race accident with Tarran Mackenzie unfortunately resulted in an injury to his right hand, and the team’s physio Patrick did a great job to get him prepared for the race. Loka toughed out the 18 Laps – but clearly didn’t have the best preparation and it was not an easy race. I’d like to thank the marketing management team from Harris Maxus for coming to Aragon to support Pata Maxus Yamaha and we’re looking forward to showing them what our team is truly capable of achieving next time out.”
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