Pata Maxus Yamaha, Xavi Vierge and Andrea Locatelli faced a challenging Sunday – but with many positives - to bring Round 8 of the 2026 FIM Superbike World Championship to a close under a sunny and packed Donington Park. The team's home round delivered everything that makes Donington Park special – a packed circuit, incredible fan support and an atmosphere that underlined why this is one of the most beloved rounds on the WorldSBK calendar. Partners and guests joined the team

Pata Maxus Yamaha's Xavi Vierge secured a fine P5 on the grid after an excellent Superpole lap, before finishing tenth in the FIM Superbike World Championship Race 1 at the team's home round at Donington Park, as conditions cooled a little on Saturday. Saturday got underway with a much fresher FP3 compared to the scorching temperatures of Friday. In Superpole, Vierge delivered an impressive lap to line up fifth on the grid, recovering confidence ahead of the afternoon's race.

Pata Maxus Yamaha, Xavi Vierge and Andrea Locatelli opened Round 8 of the 2026 FIM Superbike World Championship under unusually hot and sunny skies at Donington Park. One of the most popular rounds on the WorldSBK calendar – famous for the passion of its British fans at the same venue where the series began in 1988 – got underway this morning with the heat very much the talking point. Pata Maxus Yamaha, working alongside Yamaha Motor Europe's engineers, focused on refining th

Pata Maxus Yamaha will have extra motivation on home soil as the 2026 FIM Superbike World Championship head towards Round 8 in the United Kingdom at Donington Park from 10-12 July, the series reaching its final stop before the summer break. Andrea Locatelli heads to Donington fresh from competing in the prestigious Suzuka 8 Hours with Yamaha, where the Italian finished second with the Yamaha Factory Racing Team. Last year, "Loka" was agonisingly close to the podium in bot

Pata Maxus Yamaha’s Andrea Locatelli fought hard to enjoy and make the most of Sunday’s two races in Round 7 of the 2026 FIM Superbike World Championship in front of his home crowd at Misano World Circuit in Italy. In both the Superpole Race and Race 2 this afternoon, “Loka” made excellent starts to run inside the top five on the opening laps – really fighting for position before settling into race pace. This early aggression helped him in the hot conditions to finish eighth

Andrea Locatelli enjoyed a strong Saturday performance “at home” in front of his enthusiastic fan club with a seventh-place finish in Race 1 at Misano World Circuit, for Round 7 of the FIM Superbike World Championship in Italy today. Qualifying on the third row in P8, the #55 Italian Pata Maxus Yamaha rider made a clean getaway and, after some dicing with other riders in the first couple of laps, rode a metronomic pace in seventh place from Lap 6 onwards. The hottest race of

Pata Maxus Yamaha, Xavi Vierge and Andrea Locatelli began work in earnest for Round 7 of the 2026 FIM Superbike World Championship at Misano World Circuit in Italy today, welcomed by sunny, summer weather on the Adriatic Coast. One of the busiest rounds of the season awaits, as Italian fans flock to Misano for WorldSBK this weekend – with track action underway during Free Practice 1 and 2 on Friday. Pata Maxus Yamaha, alongside Yamaha Motor Europe’s engineers, started with a

It’s Andrea Locatelli’s turn to enjoy a home race weekend as Pata Maxus Yamaha and the 2026 FIM Superbike World Championship travel to Misano World Circuit this weekend, from 12-14 July. A podium in the short 10-Lap Superpole Race last year was a highlight for the team’s Italian rider, at a venue where many of his fans from Bergamo make the journey to support “Loka” and the team. Sharing the pit box this year is teammate Xavi Vierge, and following a two-day performance test l

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 positio

Pata Maxus Yamaha’s home race hero Xavi Vierge persevered in punishing hot conditions to finish in the points in Race 1 at MotorLand Aragon today, Round 6 of the 2026 FIM Superbike World Championship, as teammate Andrea Locatelli frustratingly fell from contention on Lap 5. The two riders hoped to take a step forward following Free Practice yesterday, with the aim to start the first full-length race this weekend from good grid positions. WorldSBK’s Superpole qualifying, where

Andrea Locatelli and Xavi Vierge started work in Friday Free Practice for what will prove to be the hottest race weekend of the 2026 FIM Superbike World Championship so far at MotorLand Aragon today, refining their race pace Yamaha R1 WorldSBK set-up in gruelling conditions. Track temperatures were officially recorded as 53 degrees Celsius during Free Practice 2 this afternoon, the hottest point of the day, but the team’s direct asphalt measurement was much higher – 62 degree

Andrea Locatelli and Xavi Vierge enjoyed two days of “perfect” weather on the Adriatic Coast to complete a productive performance test at Misano World Circuit for Pata Maxus Yamaha. Warm, sunny temperatures and track conditions up to 50 degrees Celsius greeted many of the 2026 FIM Superbike World Championship field, whose teams opted to join the private test alongside their competitors in preparation for the Emilia Romagna Round taking place next month. The mid-season test w

Andrea Locatelli, Xavi Vierge and Pata Maxus Yamaha closed out the Czech Round of the 2026 FIM Superbike World Championship at Autodrom Most today, with Locatelli’s fightback to a ninth-place finish in Race 2 providing fuel to push on to a two-day performance test at Misano World Circuit this coming week. The team’s 29-year-old Italian rider came through to 11th place in the Superpole Race this morning, but finishing outside of the all-important top nine positions meant he wa

Pata Maxus Yamaha rider Andrea Locatelli’s Race 1 performance at Autodrom Most delivered reasons for optimism, as Round 5 of the 2026 FIM Superbike World Championship continued in the Czech Republic today. Qualifying on the fifth row was not a hindrance to Locatelli, who worked his way through the field methodically to run seventh by Lap 10. After a lap-by-lap battle with Alex Lowes, the team’s Italian rider crossed the line in eighth place to take a solid finish in the first

Andrea Locatelli and Xavi Vierge both look to take another step after finding renewed confidence on the opening day at Autodrom Most for Round 5 of the 2026 FIM Superbike World Championship today, where the tightly-contested top 15 were separated by less than a second on the combined timesheets. Despite grey skies and the threat of rain all day, only a few spots of rain fell at the start of Free Practice 2 but not enough to delay the work taking place this afternoon. For both

Andrea Locatelli and Xavi Vierge are back on track again this weekend pushing for strong results for Pata Maxus Yamaha in Round 5 of the 2026 FIM Superbike World Championship at Autodrom Most in the Czech Republic, from 15-17 May. Locatelli has claimed two podiums in Most since joining the premier class in 2021, and aside from two DNFs, he has always finished in the top ten – and mostly inside the top six. The rider from Bergamo enjoys the short layout and has often been in t

Xavi Vierge, Andrea Locatelli and Pata Maxus Yamaha were disappointed to not be able to maximise their full potential on Sunday at Round 4 of the 2026 FIM Superbike World Championship at Balaton Park in Hungary, today. Vierge did everything possible to overcome a difficult qualifying position throughout the weekend, once again coming through from P17 on the grid in the Superpole Race to the top 10 this morning, just one place shy of an improved slot for Race 2. The Spanish ri

Pata Maxus Yamaha’s Andrea Locatelli continued his route towards fighting at the front of the 2026 FIM Superbike World Championship pack at Balaton Park, taking a solid seventh-place finish ahead of teammate Xavi Vierge, who progressed valiantly to tenth from P16 on the grid in Race 1 today. The team’s #55 rider qualified strongly to start from the middle of the second row, aiming to go with the front group at the beginning of Race 1 this afternoon in Hungary. When the lights

With a clear focus on long-run pace, Andrea Locatelli enjoyed a positive Friday Free Practice on his Pata Maxus Yamaha R1 WorldSBK, as Round 4 of the 2026 FIM Superbike World Championship got underway at Balaton Park in Hungary today. Locatelli matched his best lap time of the day on Lap 20 of 20 in Free Practice 2, demonstrating pin-point accurate race pace on very used tyres. The Italian #55 finished the day happy with the set-up of his R1 and progress made, focusing on the

Positive momentum is the target to take advantage a busy month of racing for Pata Maxus Yamaha’s Xavi Vierge and Andrea Locatelli, starting this weekend at Balaton Park in Hungary for Round 4 of the 2026 FIM Superbike World Championship, from 1-3 May. The first of three WorldSBK events coming up this month sets the stage for both Vierge and Locatelli to build on the progress made in Assen. The team’s Spaniard added to his growing experience on the #97 Yamaha R1 WorldSBK, enjo