Yamaha fell short of its targets: Niccolò Canepa analyses Donington Park

Yamaha is struggling through the 2026 World Superbike Championship. Across eight race weekends and 24 races, the only top-five finish came in the second race of the season opener at Phillip Island, secured by Andrea Locatelli. At the Donington Park round, it was Xavi Vierge who achieved the best result: 8th place in the Superpole Race. In the main races, the 29-year-old finished 10th and 9th.

For Vierge, Donington was indeed a breakthrough. The Spaniard had laid the foundations for a solid weekend by securing fifth on the grid in Superpole. Team principal Niccolo Canepa saw it that way too.

“After a few difficult rounds, it was a positive weekend for Xavi,” said the former racing driver. “He gave us excellent feedback and started the weekend feeling confident, which enabled him to put in an excellent Superpole performance – his fifth-fastest time ranks among our strongest qualifying performances so far this year and deserves recognition. As we’ve often said, a strong qualifying session leads to strong races, and finishing in the top ten in all the races over the weekend are solid results, even if they’re not our desired target. His most impressive performance came in the Superpole Race, where he ran in the top five right up to the end.”

In contrast, Locatelli: the Italian only managed 14th on the grid and failed to finish in the top ten in any of the three races. Canepa holds Yamaha responsible for his star rider’s weakest season performance to date.

“It was a rather difficult weekend for Andrea. He couldn’t get a feel for the bike right from the start, and we weren’t able to improve the set-up for him between Friday and Saturday, which made the races very difficult. We need to be able to offer him a better set-up for the next race, because we know his potential and his talent.”