Signs of life from Yamaha and Xavi Vierge: Faster than Bimota and Kawasaki

Only 14th in the World Championship – and thus worse off than last year with Honda – Xavi Vierge cannot be satisfied with the current standings in the 2026 Superbike World Championship. And yet the season had started so well, with the 29-year-old immediately giving the team’s star rider, Andrea Locatelli, a run for his money after switching to Yamaha. It’s clear that his position in the championship would look better without six retirements (crashes and mechanical failures).

Yamaha second-fastest on Friday

However, Vierge made a strong comeback at the Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours following the long summer break. Finishing fourth in the morning and sixth in the afternoon, the Catalan was the fastest non-Ducati rider in both free practice sessions and thus also quicker than the Bimota aces, who are otherwise usually ahead. Why is Yamaha performing so much better at Magny-Cours?

“I can’t say either. I’m just giving it my all, and basically we’re using the base set-up that works on all the other tracks too,” Vierge shrugged when asked by SPEEDWEEK.com. “We don’t have anything special and are simply trying to get the best out of our package. That means highlighting the strengths and compensating for the weaknesses as best we can. We’ve already shown good speed at other circuits, but ran into problems over the distance. That’s why we’re focusing on managing the tyres well.”

The Spaniard set his fastest lap time on a soft SCX race tyre, which Pirelli has also designated for the main races.

“I don’t think anyone used a qualifying tyre on Friday. In free practice, we’re preparing for the races,” the Yamaha rider continued. “We know, of course, that some circuits suit us better than others – Magny-Cours is one of them. In FP1, we first had to get back into the swing of things, as a break of almost eight weeks is a long time. As the feeling got better and better, we got down to work. We’re still a bit short in race set-up, but with fresh tyres we’ve got a pretty good pace.”

Topic of the week

2027 MotoGP grid: Almost a quarter of the riders are new – implications for SBK

The 2027 MotoGP grid will feature five new regular riders, with at least three of those dropped set to move to the World Superbike Championship. The ones to suffer as a result are Alvaro Bautista and Danilo Petrucci.

Read more

TV program

Tomorrow

Magny-Cours: Der Samstag

FIM Superbike World Championship

05.09.2026 - 09:35