The 2026 FIM Yamaha R3 BLU CRU World Cup title fight heads to the final round in Estoril with just one-point separating the top two in the standings after Riichi Takahira secured his third victory in four races in Race 2 at the Cremona Circuit, Italy.
Takahira (Japan) has been on the rise over the last two rounds, closing down Xarly Mendez’ (Dominican Republic) championship lead and a commanding final lap in Race 2 sees him take the lead of the championship ahead of the final round by a single point.
Mendez enjoyed a stronger race than Saturday, but second position wasn’t enough to retain his series lead and goes into Estoril chasing the Japanese ace, with five other riders still in mathematical contention.
Leonardo Marques (Brazil) completed the podium in third, ahead of Italy’s Emanuele Pastore and Race 1 winner Aymon Bocanegra (Brazil). Angelo Mottola (Italy) rounded out the top six.
Superpole victor Hinata Okada (Japan) finished seventh, ahead of Alessandro Binder of Switzerland and Nathan Bettencourt (USA), with Rintaro Takemoto (Japan) closing out the top ten.
The USA’s Chris Clark had led into the first corner but fell at Turn 2, while guest rider Valentino Knezovic (Australia) also crashed while competing for a podium finish.
Theoretically, every rider down to Binder in seventh place are still in contention for the title with the final round taking place at the Circuito do Estoril in two weeks’ time.
Riichi Takahira said: “It was a very good race, I thought I could make a break on the last lap so tried my hardest and it worked. The championship gap is now one point, so I will try very hard at Estoril to win the title!”