2026 WorldWCR Final: Herrera on the verge of winning the title, farewell to Yamaha

The race weekend at the Circuito de Jerez marks the finale of the production-based world championship for all categories. Whilst the Superbike World Championship has been decided since Cremona and the Supersport class since Estoril, the titles are still up for grabs in the new Sportbike series and the Women’s World Championship.

Maria Herrera has a chance to clinch the title in the WorldWCR. The title race was all but decided at the penultimate round at Donington Park in mid-July, but following a time penalty for a collision with Paola Ramos in the second race, the 30-year-old finished second in the standings and the decision was postponed. The fact that the title will only be decided three months later in Jerez is down to the fragmented calendar.

Given Herrera’s 44-point lead over Beatriz Neila, the reigning world champion is likely to successfully defend her title as early as the first race – should her compatriot win, the GRT rider will need just six points to be confirmed as the 2026 world champion.

Jerez also marks the final race with the Yamaha R7. After three years, promoter Dorna decided to entrust the women’s-only world championship to another manufacturer, and the choice fell on CF Moto. The 675SR-R will be used from 2027 for at least three years.

“When we launched the WorldWCR, our aim was to give more female riders the opportunity to compete at an international level and show what they are capable of. Yamaha believed in this goal from the very beginning and helped to make it a reality. We would like to thank everyone at Yamaha and JiR for their commitment and dedication over these first three seasons,” said Superbike Director Gregorio Lavilla. “Since the WorldWCR’s inception, our aim has been to create more opportunities and build strong competition. A key part of this is continually raising the bar for the female riders. The CFMOTO 675SR-R offers our female riders a more powerful motorbike as well as a new challenge that will help them develop further.”

It remains to be seen what impact the change of manufacturer will have on the line-up for the 2027 WorldWCR. It is hard to imagine that teams affiliated with Yamaha in other classes will switch to CF Moto. For example, Crescent (Neila and Chloe Jones) runs the Superbike works team, whilst GRT (Herrera and Natalia Rivera) is an official satellite team. The GMT94 team (Lucie Boudesseul) is affiliated with Yamaha in the Supersport World Championship.