Albert Arenas (Yamaha): “We knew it would be difficult”

Second-place finishes were not enough for Albert Arenas to be crowned world champion at the third-last race weekend of the 2026 Supersport World Championship. With 100 points still up for grabs, the Yamaha rider holds an 86-point lead over Valentin Debise (ZX Moto), who finished fourth and fifth respectively.

“After scoring zero points in the first race at Magny-Cours, it was clear to us that winning the title in Cremona would be difficult,” the Spaniard said, playing down the situation in an interview with SPEEDWEEK.com reporter Sebastian Fränzschky. “So I focused on achieving the best possible results in both races. I liked the track straight away when I explored it during free practice. Considering it was our first time here, things went really well. Despite the tension, we all kept our cool and got the job done.”

As a reminder: in France, Arenas was knocked off his bike by another rider as early as the third lap – by Jeremy Alcoba, who has now snatched the Cremona victories from under his nose.

No other rider in this year’s Supersport category has come anywhere near matching the consistency of Arenas, who has racked up three wins and 16 podium finishes in 20 races. In Cremona, he was only beaten by his compatriot, who, at his Kawasaki team’s home race, managed to secure a flawless one-two finish seemingly out of nowhere. Arenas missed out on the wins by just 0.6 and 0.5 seconds.

“On Saturday I was really frustrated because we had a problem with the electronics. After the second race, it was the opposite,” said the Yamaha rider. The bike ran like a dream, but the Kawasaki simply seemed to have a bit more speed. In the opening laps, I was able to get a bit more out of the fresh tyres, particularly under acceleration. You mustn’t forget that Yamaha has to carry an extra five kilograms, and you can feel that. But that’s part and parcel of this championship, and you have to make the best of it. What’s more, Kawasaki had a total of six test days in Cremona – we had one in the rain – and that paid off for them.”

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