MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship sophomore rider Yari Montella (Barni Spark Racing Team) continues to ride far above his 2025 rookie season benchmark. At Autodrom Most’s Czech Round, the #5 landed the first podium hat trick of his WorldSBK career, and his resulting 39-point Riders’ Championship point haul escorts him now up to third place in the world title battle, 14 points ahead of fellow Italian Ducati independent rider Lorenzo Baldassarri (Team GoEleven).

Montella sent himself to a P2 grid start with a 1’29.596s Tissot Superpole session time, less than three tenths slower than Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing - Ducati). He made the most of that advantageous position in Race 1, where he looked poised in the early laps to break the P1-P2 chokehold that the factory Ducati riders have had on those positions, riding in P2 across the first three laps. Iker Lecuona (Aruba.it Racing - Ducati) took the position on Lap 4, from which he and Bulega ran away with the gold and silver medals, but Montella maintained his focus and took home third place.

SHORT RACE SUCCESS AT LAST: “I’m happy to earn my first podium in a Superpole Race as I was missing one of those”

The Tissot Superpole Race saw Montella defend his P3 at lights out in what was a chaotic opening lap of the Superpole Race. From there, he rode consistent high 1’30s laps until Lap 6, when his pace began to drop into the 1’31s mark and Baldassarri behind him began tearing away at his gap, down to half a second after standing at a second on Lap 4. By Lap8, that margin had fallen to just three tenths, but across the final two laps, Montella gained nearly three tenths on the #34 to seal his second podium of the weekend.

On his Superpole Race success, Montella said: “I feel super happy, we achieved our goals of fighting for the podium, and we brought home three third places. I’m super proud and super happy. We worked really hard, and I’m happy to earn my first podium in a Superpole Race, as I was missing one of those. They are a bit more chaotic as every rider wants to be as far forward as possible, even more than normal, to improve their grid position for Race 2.”

OVERCOMING A BUMPY ROOKIE YEAR: “I’m super proud after a 2025 rookie season that was more down than up”

Race 2 saw him again maintain his P3 position off the line and into the meat and potatoes of the race; however, he saw his podium position threatened by a late-charging ‘Balda’, who had risen from three seconds back of Montella at the race’s midpoint, to just 1.6s with three laps remaining. Montella did what he had to do, however and finished with a 1.2s gap over his compatriot, earning his fifth WorldSBK podium, moving up into third place in the Riders’ Championship behind the factory-powered #7.

On his Race 2, the keys to his success, and how it feels to be up into third in the Championship, Montella said: ”I enjoyed Race 2, I was pushing well in the first ten laps, when after that I started to feel the rear tyre drop more and more and I began to struggle a bit. At the beginning, my pace was good, but we missed some grip. In the end, like at Balaton, I tried to just build my gap, and I ended up maintaining it to get onto the podium. I’m super proud after a 2025 rookie season that was more down than up. I worked really hard in the winter and continued that work. I’m fully focused, I’m in a good moment in my career and my life, on and off the track. I was surprised by 2025; I was expecting to do better than I did. We need to focus race by race and get good rest. It would be nice to finish third in the Championship, but it’s still very early.”

The Italian travels south for next round where they will take on MotorLand Aragon! Tune in with the WorldSBK VideoPass! Now 30% off!