Local wildcard rider Romeo Moneyron impressed as the fourth round of the 2026 FIM Yamaha R3 BLU CRU World Cup got underway at the Circuit de Nevers – Magny-Cours, securing pole position for Saturday’s opening race in his debut appearance in the series.
Brazil’s Leandro Marques started the day fastest in Free Practice ahead of Aymon Bocanegra (Brazil) and Rintaro Takemoto (Japan), but it was one-event entry Moneyron who took the all-important pole position in the afternoon’s Superpole session.
The Frenchman’s time of 1’58.254s was enough to secure the top spot by just 0.034 seconds, ahead of championship leader Xarly Mendez (Dominican Republic) and Rintaro Takemoto, who had looked set to steal pole from Moneyron until running into traffic in the final sector.
Emaunele Pastore (Italy) heads up row two, ahead of Riichi Takahira (Japan) and Angelo Mottola (Italy). Bocanegra, one of few riders with circuit experience, leads row three ahead of Alessandro Binder (Switzerland) and Chris Clark (USA). Louis Papelard (France), who also joins the grid as a one-event rider, will line up tenth.
The opening race of the weekend will get underway at 10:20 local time on Saturday and can be watched live on the Yamaha Racing YouTube channel here.
Romeo Moneyron said: “It’s amazing to be on pole position! My feeling on the bike is very good, and I am very happy to be here racing at the WorldSBK event in Magny-Cours, for me everything is new so to be on pole position is excellent. With everything so new, I do not know what to expect in the race but if I can fight for the podium, it would be amazing!”