The 2026 FIM R3 BLU CRU World Cup field took an important step towards the new season as the riders came together at Cremona Circuit in Italy for the official two-day pre-season test on 8-9 April, ahead of the opening round at Balaton Park from 1-3 May.

This year’s entry list features 23 full-time riders aged 14-18 from 11 different countries, underlining the global reach of the FIM R3 BLU CRU World Cup. With 2025 champion Alessandro Di Persio stepping up to the FIM Sportbike World Championship in 2026 on a Yamaha-supported ride, highlighting the progression available through the award-winning BLU CRU programme, the fight for this year’s title is wide open, with the winner set to earn the same opportunity for 2027.
The official test marked the first time the 2026 field assembled in full, bringing the riders together at Cremona to begin the serious work ahead of round one. The opening day was centred on getting the youngsters fully prepared for the season ahead, both on and off the track.

After arriving at the circuit, the riders received their riding kit, including a race suit, boots, gloves, chest protector, base layers and more. They then took part in the traditional bike lottery, where each competitor drew a number from a bag that assigned them the R3 they will race throughout the season, ensuring a completely level playing field. The official photoshoot followed before attention turned to getting everything ready for the track.

The opening day also featured a special visit from FIM Superbike World Championship rider Andrea Locatelli of the Pata Maxus Yamaha WorldSBK Official Team. Drawing on his experience at the highest level, Locatelli spoke to the riders about how to build a race weekend, refine their riding position and dial in the final setup details that can make a difference once the racing begins. It was also an opportunity for the youngsters to begin understanding the demands of racing on the world stage and the level of detail required to compete at the highest level.

Later in the day, the riders joined Di Persio and FIM R3 BLU CRU World Cup Racing Technical Manager Sergio Barat for a track walk, where they received valuable insight into how to approach the Cremona Circuit.

The riders also benefited from the guidance of former WorldSBK rider and FIM R3 BLU CRU World Cup Official Rider Coach Pawel Szkopek throughout the two days, as he worked with the youngsters across the test, offering mentorship and advice as they prepared for the season ahead.

Day two was all about hitting the track, with six dedicated 20-minute sessions giving the riders valuable time on their Yamaha R3 machines ahead of round one. Another special guest at Cremona was reigning FIM Supersport World Champion Stefano Manzi, who now competes in the FIM Superbike World Championship with the GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team. Riding alongside the youngsters throughout day two, Manzi offered a valuable point of reference for the next generation, sharing insight from his own journey through the ranks while helping them better understand the commitment, mentality and professionalism needed to build a career at world championship level.

Xarly Mendez from the Dominican Republic was the fastest rider across the test, with the top four separated by just 0.170s, while all 23 riders lowered their lap times over the course of the second day as confidence continued to build and the pace steadily improved at Cremona.

The championship continues to serve as a proven pathway to professional success, offering identical machinery and a level playing field where talent, determination and racecraft define the next generation of racing stars. With another highly competitive field assembled for 2026, the stage is set for a season full of close battles, bold overtakes and career-defining performances.

The 2026 FIM R3 BLU CRU World Cup takes place across six rounds alongside the FIM Superbike World Championship, beginning at Balaton Park from 1-3 May, before visiting MotorLand Aragon, Donington Park, Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours, Cremona Circuit and Circuito do Estoril later in the year.

Honda HRC PETRONAS’s Tom Vialle won his first MXGP overall in just his third attempt, after storming through the field in the second moto to back-up his victory in the first moto. Starting from 18^th gate-pick, the Honda CRF450RW rider powered away to lead the whole of race one, showing his speed on a tricky Frauenfeld track.

He wasn’t able to repeat that in race two though, and instead had to come from outside the top 20 to power his way to sixth place. It was a remarkable comeback that surprised even the Frenchman as he didn’t know he’d won the Swiss GP until he got behind the podium. It was a crazy turn of events, which showed that the rookie MXGP rider is already a force to be reckoned with, especially as he can make the necessary passes on what is traditionally a difficult track to move through the field. This victory now sees him to within seven points of the title-lead and after three completely different terrains, he is proving he will be a threat at every round.

At one stage of the second MXGP moto, Ruben Fernandez looked like he might join his teammate on the podium, but the Spaniard wasn’t able to keep his momentum in race two and instead finished just three points shy of third. It was a shame for the #70 because he looked so good in race one, when rode to a very impressive third and after another good start in race two, he was well-placed for a first appearance on the box. Instead he’ll be hoping to make another challenge in Sardinia in a couple of weeks’ time.

Jeffrey Herlings will also be hoping for better fortune after falling foul of a treacherous corner that took the chain off three GP riders in that race. It was unfortunate because the #84 was in second place at the time, and combined with a third in the second moto, it would have been enough to see him win the GP. While he disappointed with the end result, the Dutchman is still just 12 points behind the championship leader and with more favourable tracks coming up, he will be hoping to close that gap.

In the MX2 class, Valerio Lata came into this weekend with confidence after a good moto result in Spain, and he carried that on with excellent five-four moto scores for fifth overall. Both races saw the Italian take strong starts on board his Honda CRF250RW, and he rode a consistent pace, avoiding any mistakes and keeping pace with the guys in front. He has now improved in each GP and will be looking to maintain that streak the next two races, which are a double-header in his home country.

Now though, there is a weekend off, which gives the riders a chance to prepare themselves for the deep sand of Riola Sardo, and the hard-pack rocky terrain in Trentino, before they get an unprecedented four week break.

Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP Team’s Maxime Renaux and Tim Gajser have delivered a sensational double podium at the MXGP of Switzerland, with Renaux finishing second and Gajser third. The teammates also climbed the MXGP World Championship standings, where Renaux now lies fourth and Gajser is close behind in fifth.

Positive momentum has been building for the teammates through the early stages of 2026. Both riders have also won Grands Prix at the tight and twisty Frauenfeld circuit in previous years, so they travelled to round three of the series feeling confident of delivering more strong results.

As the gate dropped for Race One, Renaux was fast to react and he rounded the first turn in third. On the opening lap, he was shuffled back to fourth, but he was soon back into third and then advanced to second when fellow Frenchman Romain Febvre fell. By this time, the race leader had created a margin at the front that was too big to overcome, and Renaux was forced to settle for second.

Renaux wasn’t quite able to match his Race One start in the second race. From eighth early on, he was quickly up to sixth within a couple of laps. As the race reached the halfway point, he lost his flow and slipped back to seventh. With his first overall podium result of the season in reach, Renaux crossed the finish line in seventh for second overall on the day. The former MX2 World Champion has now moved up to fourth in the championship after three rounds.

One week on from his maiden podium result for Yamaha, Gajser was fired up for a repeat success. Finishing third in Saturday’s Qualifying Race marked a positive start to his weekend, however two crashes in Race One led to a ninth-place finish.

In Race Two, Gajser demonstrated his class with a strong ride. After running in fourth until halfway through the race, the Slovenian executed a beautiful pass on Romain Febvre to move into third. While pressuring Jeffrey Herlings for second, his rival fell, allowing Gajser to move into the runner-up position. Finishing second marked his best race result of the season so far, and he secured back-to-back podium results with third overall. Following another impressive performance, Gajser moves up to fifth in the series standings and trails his teammate Renaux by a single point.

After two positive Grands Prix on very different circuits in Spain and Switzerland, the series resumes in Sardegna over the weekend of April 11-12.

MotoGP moved to COTA, near the city of Austin, for the American home of the series since 2013 and the third round of the 2026 campaign. Across the long, breezy and sun-kissed Texas tarmac Red Bull KTM Factory Racing emerged with more podium distinction after 20 laps.

The weather pivoted again at the Circuit of the Americas from a cool and cloudy Saturday – where Red Bull KTM Tech3 and Enea Bastianini celebrated a podium classification in the Sprint – to sunshine and higher temperatures for Grand Prix race day. MotoGP lunged into the 13th event at the sprawling and technically demanding course southeast of Austin with three Red Bull KTM riders in action; Maverick Viñales had been forced to withdraw on Friday due to a problem with his left shoulder, requiring minor surgery this week.

The race started with Pedro Acosta on the front row, and the Spaniard aced the holeshot to lead on the first lap of his 100th GP appearance (made in all classes and since his first in 2021). He survived close contact onto the back straight then formed part of a three-rider posse going for the podium order. Pedro maintained his pace in P3 and crossed the line less than 4.5 seconds from the winner. The silverware represents his second of the year and his 12th in the premier class and keeps the 21-year-old 3rd in the championship standings.  

Enea Bastianini moved up from 12th on the grid to enter the top ten after four laps. He then embarked on a sensational battle for the top five and manage to log 6th place for his best result since the 2025 Catalan GP last summer. Brad Binder had to make progress from a qualifying slot of P18. The South African quickly got into the points and finished 12th. 

Round four of MotoGP will take place in Jerez for the Spanish Grand Prix in three weeks: the first European date on the schedule.

Brad Binder, 12th and 12th in the championship: “A really long race and I just couldn’t find any pace all weekend. I had chatter at the beginning and became more and more, especially on full lean. I wasn’t expecting that. Two 12th places is nowhere near good enough. We have some serious homework to do to be better for Jerez.”

Honda HRC PETRONAS’ Jeffrey Herlings made it two podiums out of two, with a strong two-two performance at the MXGP of Andalucia. Held at the new, sandy Almonte circuit in the south of Spain, the Dutchman got two good starts and quickly worked his way into second place in both races, continuing his excellent Sunday form and keeping himself within touching distance of the championship lead.

After a Saturday crash in the qualifying race left him with 11^th gate-pick, the Honda CRF450RW rider overcame the outside gate and rounded the first turn inside the top five. From there, he tried his best to get himself into the lead as quickly as possible, but he was beaten to the punch and although he tried to catch the leader, he was never able to make a battle for the top spot. It is still an excellent start to his Honda career though and with plenty of racing left to go, he knows that with this sort of form, he’ll be fighting for first place more often than not.

Teammate Tom Vialle also continued his strong start to the season by going two-five-six over the course of the weekend, including another holeshot in the first moto today. In what was his first European sand race in over three years, the speed was excellent for the Frenchman, but he wasn’t quite able to maintain the momentum over the duration of the two motos. Still, he has a lot to be happy with in the first two GPs and next week’s track in Switzerland should really play to his strengths and he hopes to be regaining the championship-leading red-plate which adorned his Honda CRF450RW today.

The third member of the 450 squad, Ruben Fernandez, came into this weekend under the weather, but determined to try his best in front of the passionate home crowd. A tough qualifier yesterday meant he had a lower gate-pick than normal and unfortunately that meant he was collected up in a first turn incident in race one. Remounting at the back of the field, the Spaniard put on a big charge – much to the excitement of the crowd – and worked his way up to 12^th place. With renewed optimism that his speed was good, he avoided any dramas around the first turns of race two and found himself in sixth place. Unfortunately the energy he expended in race one, combined with his depleted capacity from his illness meant that he wasn’t able to maintain that, and although he tried his best to maintain a top 10 finish, he did slip to 11^th on the last lap. Definitely not the home GP he was looking for, but Switzerland is next weekend, which is a track he won the qualifying race at last year.

Also heading to Switzerland with optimism is Valerio Lata, after the young Italian showed what he was capable of with a fourth place in race two. The Honda CRF250RW rider got better and better over the course of the weekend and after an eighth in race one, the fourth place showed his real speed on the tricky sandy surface. Now the goal will be to repeat that feat on a more favourable Frauenfeld facility, which is where Honda HRC PETRONAS will be heading for the third round of the 2026 MXGP World Championships.

The Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team secures its first podium of the season in Sunday’s race with Fabio Di Giannantonio, who finishes third. Franco Morbidelli is twelfth.

 The Autodromo Internacional de Goiânia – Ayrton Senna continues to win over the Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team more and more: once again the team showed great consistency in Sunday’s race, achieving a podium with Fabio Di Giannantonio. The rider from rome finished the Brazilian GP in third place, claiming his first GP podium of the season. Franco Morbidelli delivered a solid comeback in his second home race and finished twelfth.

A brilliant Sunday for Di Giannantonio, who started from pole position in a race that proved to be fiercely contested from the very first corners. Fabio was a key contender in the fight for the podium, showing excellent pace despite the tricky track conditions. The rider from Rome was always among the top riders, and he completed the decisive overtake in the closing stages, securing third place: it’s the first of the season for both himself and the team, and his fifth overall with the Tavullia-based squad. Di Giannantonio now sits fourth in the World Standing with 37 points.

It was a more challenging race for Morbidelli, who had a difficult start from the fifth row. After a tricky opening phase in which he lost a few positions, Franco found his rhythm and managed a strong comeback. The Italian-Brazilian rider finished his second home race in twelfth place, not far from the Top10. Morbidelli is now tenth in the World Standing with 12 points.

The Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team returns to action this weekend for the United States GP, scheduled to take place from March 27th to 29th. Before flying to Austin, however, the team will attend a special and historic event at The Edge at Hudson Yards in New York on Tuesday, March 24th.

The Honda HRC team has spent two days at Portimão with Somkiat Chantra and Jonathan Rea, standing in for the injured Jake Dixon, although the weather ultimately allowed for just one day of track action.

The factory Honda HRC team tried to make the best use of the few hours of dry track time during the test at Portugal’s Autódromo Internacional do Algarve, where Round 2 of the championship will take place on 27–29 March.

The squad was pleased to have Somkiat Chantra back on board following a period of recovery. Having missed several pre-season tests as well as the opening championship round in Australia due to injury, Chantra was keen to make the most of this week’s session to regain confidence with his bike and team, while also assessing his physical condition. Jake Dixon is still out of action after sustaining injury during last month’s Phillip Island test. The Brit was therefore replaced by HRC test rider Jonathan Rea.

Both Chantra and Rea made a solid start on Monday morning until a rain shower just before 1pm drove all the riders back into the pits. The track unfortunately remained damp for a while, with the SBK field only really making use of the final hour of the day. Having focused on general set-up work and electronics and completing 41 and 32 laps respectively on day one, Chantra and Rea were keen to clock up more miles aboard the CBR1000RR-R on day two.

Unfortunately, cold temperatures and mixed conditions throughout Tuesday prevented any further track action, but both riders were pleased with the positive feeling and the constructive work and atmosphere they experienced with their respective squads.

The Honda HRC team will confirm the rider line-up for the second WorldSBK round, taking place at Portimão in a little over two weeks’ time, in the coming days

Jonathan Rea

“Yesterday I had a smile on my face just because I was riding the bike at this circuit that I love. It was great to work with the crew again and get that feeling back, even though we once again had to deal with some bad weather. In fact, the weather has been a challenge throughout the whole winter testing season. So far, we’ve only managed to complete around 50–60 laps in all, which is less than one full day of testing in normal conditions, so we still have a lot of work to do. That said, I was able to understand the level of the CBR quite quickly when I arrived. It’s already good, but there are clearly some areas where we can improve. We’re getting there gradually, and we’re giving the engineers in Japan and the team here a clearer direction to follow. Physically my condition is much better compared to the first test we had in Jerez, where I couldn’t bend my knee enough to ride comfortably. Portimão is a very physical track, so all in all it was a good test, and I feel physically ready to keep progressing with the work.”

Jeffrey Herlings’ debut for Honda HRC PETRONAS went perfectly on Sunday as the #84 took his 113^th GP win with a dominant one-one performance that also saw him take the red-plate. After yesterday’s qualification race, where an unfortunate crash saw him finish outside the points, the maximum score of 50 points today meant he joint-leads the championship with teammate and fellow debutant Tom Vialle after his one-two-four results across the weekend. It is Herlings though that will takeover the red-plate from Vialle due winning the second moto, but both riders will head to Spain for round two, full of confidence.

For Herlings, an outside gate-pick meant his work would be a lot harder – in theory – but a rocket start on-board his Honda CRF450RW saw him take the holeshot in front of Vialle, making it an HRC one-two. Those positions swapped a few laps into the race as Herlings suffered from a bit of arm-pump and while Vialle tried to pull away, Herlings never let the gap get unmanageable and a few laps from the end, he re-passed the French rider and took the victory.

Race two didn’t start off as well, as he was bumped back to around 10^th, but he made a bunch of passes in the first couple of laps to work his way forward and eventually up into second. The gap seemed insurmountable, and second would still have been good enough for the overall, but not the red-plate, so the #84 put his head down and once again made the pass for the lead near the end of the moto.  A perfect day and a great start to his Honda HRC PETRONAS career and now he hopes to carry this momentum into Spain in a couple of weeks’ time.

Vialle can also be very happy with his weekend, after his two-four motos today that included leading laps in both races. Battling with Herlings in race one and then once again grabbing an excellent start in the second moto meant that he really has got to grips with the Honda CRF450RW is very quick time. Scoring 50 points over the weekend is an excellent tally and while he wasn’t sure where he’d place coming into this round, he now knows he is very much a challenger for the rest of the season.

While he wasn’t pleased with his performance in race one, Ruben Fernandez bounced back in race two and showed that he will also fight for the podium positions throughout this campaign after a fifth placed finish. Things could have been even better as the #70 was in second-position before the red-flag restart, but he put in another solid moto after that and ended up sixth overall in the GP and eight in the championship, with his home GP coming up.

Unfortunately Valerio Lata had a nasty crash in race two, landing on a fellow rider in the chaos of the first two turns. Thankfully the young Italian only has bumps and bruises so he should still be able to line-up in Spain, but he wasn’t the outcome the #18 was after, especially since he finished eighth in the first moto.

Almonte, Spain is another new venue for the series so the riders won’t know exactly what to expect on March 21-22, but after leading all MXGP sessions in Argentina, all the members of Honda HRC PETRONAS will be heading there with renewed confidence that they are very much amongst the best riders on the planet and this second round will give them another opportunity to show it.

Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP Team’s Tim Gajser has delivered improving race results at the MXGP of Argentina to secure fourth overall. Making his Grand Prix debut for the team at the Bariloche circuit, Gajser backed up his sixth in Race One with a solid third in Race Two. Maxime Renaux delivered a consistent 7-8 result to place seventh overall.

In his first Grand Prix with the team, Gajser showed steady progress across the weekend. After placing 10th in the MXGP Qualifying Race, the 29-year-old lined up for the Grand Prix races eager to get the new campaign off to a strong start.

In the opening race, Gajser started just outside the top 10, but using his experience and race craft, he was able to methodically work his way up to sixth at the finish. A much stronger start in Race Two led to a much improved result – third for fourth overall on the day. With the points from all three races tallied up, the Slovenian leaves Argentina fifth in the MXGP World Championship standings.

Renaux, who won the opening Grand Prix of 2025 at a different Argentine circuit, had a mixed day of racing to start the season. In Race One he came out on top of a three-rider battle for seventh, before placing eighth in Race Two after claiming the holeshot aboard his Yamaha YZ450FM. In the series standings, Renaux sits one spot behind his teammate Gajser in

sixth.

Following a mixed weekend of racing for the team in Argentina, the championship now heads to Spain for the MXGP of Andalucia over the weekend of March 21-22.

Following a challenging Daytona round that saw Hunter Lawrence and Jo Shimoda lose a bit of ground in their respective fights for the 450SX and 250SX East AMA Supercross Championships, both Honda HRC Progressive riders performed well under pressure at the exciting second Triple Crown event of the season, which eclipsed the midway point of the season in Indianapolis. Lawrence scored the second premier-class win of his career (his first overall victory with the unique three-race format), while Shimoda was second overall in his third race back from a neck injury. More importantly, each rider improved his chances at a title.

Lawrence was fourth out of turn 1 for the first 450SX race, and he dropped to sixth in the opening laps. Forced to push hard to come out on top of a tight battle with Jorge Prado, Eli Tomac and Justin Cooper, he crossed the finish line in second, positioning him well for the overall podium. The Australian was in third for the majority of the second race, before getting caught up with lappers and narrowly avoiding a crash with five laps to go. He managed to stay on his bike and only lost one position, to Cooper Webb, eventually finishing fourth. Lawrence put everything together in the third and final premier-class race, grabbing the holeshot and leading from start to finish aboard his CRF450RWE. His 2-4-1 finishes netted him his first 450SX Triple Crown win. Quad Lock Honda’s Joey Savatgy was in the fight for another great result before he crashed in the third race and left the track before the checkered flag came out. His teammates Shane McElrath and Christian Craig finished eighth and 10^th overall, respectively, while Savatgy was credited with ninth.

The three 250SX East races saw Jo Shimoda consistently get his CRF250RWE out of the gate in the top three, making him a Triple Crown overall podium contender. In race 1, he battled with Daxton Bennick and Seth Hammaker over second place until the late stages. At that point, Shimoda was closing in on the leading Cole Davies, but he ran out of time and ultimately finished second. The scenario repeated itself in the second race, as the Japanese racer found himself fighting for another second-place finish behind Davies. In the last 250SX race of the evening, the Honda HRC Progressive rider was stuck behind Devin Simonson for a few too many laps, causing him to lose touch with the leaders. Undeterred, Shimoda charged forward and climbed into second late in the race. He held the position until the final corner of the last lap, when he was narrowly passed and finished third—his consistent good starts and late-race pushes earning him second place overall. Also delivering consistent performances was Phoenix Racing Honda’s Cullin Park, who finished inside the top 10 in all three races, earning ninth overall.