Xavi Vierge gave Pata Maxus Yamaha an encouraging start to the penultimate round of the 2026 FIM Superbike World Championship, setting the fifth-fastest time in Friday morning’s opening practice at Circuito Estoril, Portugal.
Sunny skies, light winds and pleasant temperatures greeted the paddock for the opening day at Estoril, with plenty of fans already trackside. As was the case at Portimão, the passionate Portuguese supporters turned out in force to get the weekend under way.
It was a bright start for Vierge, who immediately found a good feeling on his R1 WorldSBK to set the fifth-fastest time in FP1. In the afternoon, the focus shifted more towards race pace, trying different settings in the search for more consistent rear grip, and working closely with the team ahead of tomorrow. Even so, the #97 ended the day inside the top 10 on the combined timesheet.
On the other side of the box, Locatelli dedicated his opening day to working on long-run setup and his riding with the races firmly in mind. With the times incredibly tight across the field, the Italian was just a second off the leading pace in P16. “Loka” and his crew know exactly where to focus as they look to take a step forward on Saturday.
Saturday’s action begins with FP3 at 09:40 WEST, Superpole at 11:10 and Race 1 at 15:30.
FULL FREE PRACTICE RESULTS
Xavi Vierge, P10 – 1’36.147
“The day started really well after the Cremona weekend. Straight away in FP1 I felt good with the bike, I was able to push the limits and we set a strong lap time, which was a really positive start. Our weakest point here is rear grip, which affects us badly in the final sector, so that’s what we worked on in FP2 – and with the new setup it looked like we were making small steps. At the end of the session, though, on the new tyres the feeling was a bit strange. So now we’ll analyse why that happened and work out the right direction for tomorrow. It will be really important to get it spot on, because everything is so tight out there that one good lap can make a huge difference.”
Andrea Locatelli, P16 – 1’36.520
“The first day is done and the feeling wasn’t bad at all from this morning, which is an important start here in Estoril. The gap to the top 10 wasn’t so big this afternoon either, but unfortunately I made a few mistakes when I tried to put a quicker lap time together, so I couldn’t quite link the whole track for my best lap. Even so, the feeling and the confidence is there, and we know the area we need to work on to find a bit more. All in all, it was a decent first day, so we keep our motivation high and we’ll give our best again tomorrow.”
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