Aymon Bocanegra took a clever victory in the opening race of the 2026 FIM Yamaha R3 BLU CRU World Cup at Balaton Park, with a savvy last lap that saw the Brazilian secure the victory with a move at the final chicane

Bocanegra, who also won the last race of the 2025 season, was in the lead group throughout, but things were made challenging for the Yamaha AD 78 FIM Latinamerica rider as he was pushed off track mid-way through the race. However, a strong fightback saw the Brazilian ensure he was in the right place, at the right time to cross the line first at the chequered flag, 0.175 seconds ahead of polesitter Xarly Mendez (Dominican Republic).

Switzerland’s Alessandro Binder secured a maiden podium finish in third, ahead of early season favourite Emanuele Pastore (Italy) and the USA’s Chris Clark.

Mauro Gomez (Spain) took sixth, ahead of Riichi Takahira (Japan), who was in the front group throughout the race and in contention for victory until running wide at the final chicane. Rintaro Takemoto (Japan) took eighth, ahead of Angelo Mottola (Italy) 

Several front runners were ruled out of the race through incident, including Japanese riders Kakeru Okunuki, Hinata Okada and Jean Kento Turner, while Leonardo Marques (Brazil) and Indi Schunselaar (Netherlands) also crashed out.

Having set the fastest lap of the race, Mottola will start on pole position for Sunday’s second race ahead of Bocanegra and Pastore. Lights go out at 10:10 with the race broadcast LIVE on the Yamaha Racing YouTube channel from 10:05.

Aymon Bocanegra said: “It’s a good start to the season! The race was so crazy, in the middle of the race I got pushed off the track so for the last five laps I had to push hard to recover. I did an incredible last lap and it is great to cross the line with a win! Thank you to my team and Yamaha Racing Brazil and my family!”