Albert Arenas (AS BLU CRU Racing Team) continues to ride at the helm of the FIM Supersport World Championship, building upon his 40-point Riders’ Championship lead at the Pirelli Emilia-Romagna Round to ascend to a stark 56-point world title lead. 10 races left in the 2026 season, a few more rounds like this, and a little luck could seal the deal for Arenas to be named World Champion in his rookie campaign; yet the Spanish rider is focused on his own riding and leaving everything else out of mind.
FOILED IN THE FINAL CORNER
Just a tenth off of fellow Yamaha R7 rider Can Oncu's (Pata Yamaha Ten Kate Racing)1’36.755S pole-earning pace in the Tissot Superpole session, Arenas looked very strong in the weekend’s first race, establishing himself at the front of the pack for the first two of his total of 13 laps led in the race. Can Oncu moved on the Spaniard to take P1 until Valentin Debise (EASTROC ZXMOTO Factory Evan Bros Racing) put himself into the lead at Turn 11 of Lap 6. Early in the subsequent lap, Arenas got his revenge for P1, ushering in a ten-lap stint with the current Championship leader at the head of the pack. Frustratingly for the #75, it was Debise and his ZXMOTO 820 RR that got the last laugh; while Arenas made a seemingly-decisive Turn 16 overtake before the run to the finish line, the Girona native ran just a hair too wide on the corner exit, giving the Frenchman a better run to the line, cutting back inside of Arenas and leaving him with a third straight second-place trophy.
“IN THE END, I WAS ABLE TO BE CONSISTENT AND TAKE HOME THE VICTORY”
All eyes turned to Sunday as the field returned to the tarmac for the round’s final race, and while this time Debise didn’t have the pace to fight for the race lead, in the early running, it was his teammate Aldi Mahendra who gave chase behind the Catalan rider. The Indonesian rode within half a second of Arenas, when on Lap 7, the #57 made a mistake, costing him just over a second. Riding alone at the front, Arenas kept the hammer down until the last lap, growing his gap to more than three seconds across that period before crossing the finish line just under two seconds ahead of Tom Booth-Amos (PTR Triumph Factory Racing) in P2.
On his Race 2 triumph, Arenas said: “I’m super happy about this result after some races where I had to deal with second place. There was no headwind, so I had the chance to go faster on the straight and take advantage of the bike's aerodynamics. I was happy for the first laps, but then it was a really tough race, it was super hot, and it was hard to stop the bike, but in the end, I was able to be consistent and take home the victory.”
“I’M PUTTING MY BODY IN THE RIGHT POSITIONS AND GETTING THE MAXIMUM FROM THE BIKE”
Similar to last season’s WorldSSP title fight, podium consistency has been the name of the game to emerge victorious in the Riders’ Championship. Having missed the top three spots only twice in 14 races, Arenas’s substantial lead in the standings is a testament to his metronomic race pace. For him, however, the results that really put a smile on his face are incremental improvements in his riding position or braking in pursuit of perfecting his craft as a rider.
On how he sees the Championship picture, and what he’d like from the rest of the season, Arenas said: “The Championship is looking super good, not because of the points or the standings but because I’m enjoying riding. The level I’m riding at is pretty high; the race win has been the goal for several rounds, and I’m happy to have achieved it. I’m putting my body in the right positions and getting the maximum out of the bike. This is the part that looks awesome to me. Of course, the Championship is looking good, but the important part for me is trying to keep going in this line, and see if we can improve some areas, like the braking, for example.”
Albert Arenas will lead the WorldSSP field into action at Donington Park with action kicking off on July 10th! Tune in live and catch up on the season up to this point with the WorldSBK VideoPass! Now 50% off!