Pata Maxus Yamaha’s Xavi Vierge enjoyed a strong start in Free Practice during the opening day of Round 3 of the 2026 FIM Superbike World Championship at the TT Circuit Assen today, as Andrea Locatelli continued work to return to the fight at the front.
Mild and sunny temperatures in the Netherlands were welcomed by the WorldSBK class, as track action got underway in earnest.
Vierge picked up where he left off at the previous round in Portugal, sitting fifth overall after Free Practice 1 and going on to improve his lap time during the last moments of track time this afternoon. He and his crew were happy with the work completed and improvements made to his Yamaha R1 WorldSBK set-up during the day, as the #97 also worked with Yamaha’s Rider Coach Eugene Laverty to further improve his riding style on the technical Dutch circuit.
On the #55 side of the pit box, Locatelli started the day in a good position just a couple of tenths away from the top eight in a tight group of riders on the timing sheet. He had hoped to take a larger step during the afternoon, but struggled in the latter stages of Free Practice 2 to find a good feeling when a new Pirelli rear tyre was used in the final laps.
Free Practice 3 begins at 9:40 (CEST), followed by Superpole qualifying at 11:15 before fans at the Cathedral of Speed can enjoy WorldSBK Race 1 at 15:30.
FULL FREE PRACTICE RESULTS
Xavi Vierge: P5 – 1’34.097
“Happy with the first day, it was the first time for me riding the R1 here in Assen! As soon as I began, I really felt the “good feeling” and I enjoyed a lot over the day. We worked really well with the team, we were precise with the changes we did and every time we went on track we went a little bit faster – which is important! Not only with the new tyres, with the used tyres we made a lot of laps and the pace is quite good. Also, with my riding style there are some things I can do that I’ve been working on since FP1 and there is still room to improve, so this is very good to keep going for tomorrow.”
Andrea Locatelli: P13 – 1’34.676
“This morning I was quite happy with my R1 set-up, and also this afternoon when we started Free Practice 2. But I was struggling in the end of the session when we put in the new tyre, something was not working so I was not able to improve the lap time. I feel better compared to the last two rounds on my bike, I think that everything is going in the right direction but for sure we have a lot of work to do to make another step in general. A bit of a “bad day” in the end, because I was happy with the feeling this morning and I think we can still go forward, but we couldn’t improve this afternoon unfortunately. We have time now to look at all the details and start again tomorrow morning.”
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