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The MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship paddock pulled into the Autodromo Internacional do Algarve, and from Friday’s first Free Practice to Sunday's final Race 2, the Pirelli Portuguese Round was chock-full of interesting stories! From big names getting their campaigns back on track, to young stars beginning to emerge in their own right, to a historic manufacturer landing promising results back in the paddock, Portimao was one for the record books

BACK ON TRACK: Vierge rectifies his Phillip Island struggles

Xavi Vierge (Pata Maxus Yamaha) kept his nose to the grindstone between rounds after three DNFs in Australia and at Portimao, he started his weekend strong with in P6; his best Tissot Superpole qualification since Estoril 2025 – and prior to that, he hadn’t qualified as high since Round 4 at Cremona last season. From there, he defended his P6 well, momentarily losing it to an attack by Axel Bassani (bimota by Kawasaki Racing Team) and the in-form Garrett Gerloff (Kawasaki WorldSBK Team) on Lap 15, but by the penultimate lap, he overcame both riders to retake his P6 starting position and the 10 points that come with it. He had an early fight with Sam Lowes (ELF Marc VDS Racing Team) in the Tissot Superpole Race but fell behind him on Lap 4, shuffling the Spaniard to P7, where he kept the hammer down to preserve his gap ahead of the tailing #47. In the final race of the weekend, Vierge fell on Turn 5 of Lap 4, yet recovered to finish P14 by overtaking Somkiat Chantra (Honda HRC) on the race’s final lap.

After a bumpy start to his season at Phillip Island, a proud pair of results in the top eight was exactly what Paul Denning and the rest of his team wanted to see from the #97. The Spaniard’s trio of DNFs down under are perhaps harsh results for the rider who rode as high as P7 in Race 1, couldn’t compete in the Tissot Superpole Race due to a tech issue, and crashed out of Race 2 to close his debut round with Yamaha, but taking a healthy haul of points from the round and finishing as top Yamaha in two of the round’s three races will both foment his growing confidence in the Spaniard’s Yamaha R1 bike.

RECOVERING THE FEELING: Alcoba recovers from P32 in Race 1 to take top tens in both races

Jeremy Alcoba (Kawasaki WorldSSP Team) and his teammate Dominique Aegerter haven’t gotten 2026 off to the start they had hoped for when the team announced the marquee return of the two-time World Champion to WorldSSP. Now in his sophomore season in the category, it has so far been Alcoba who has carried the flag for Manuel Puccetti’s team. Alcoba improved on his P19 Superpole result to P13 in Round 2, however a back-of-grid penalty was applied to the #52 for irresponsible riding for having not respected the yellow flag protocol by FIM WorldSBK Stewards. Despite starting in P32, Alcoba charged forward at lights out, climbing up to P21 after a single lap, and after ascending to P10, he held off riders behind him like Simon Jespersen (EAB Racing Team) and Josh Whatley (Orelac Racing VerdNatura).

In the process of his P10 Race 1 effort, he snagged the ninth fastest lap time of the race, qualifying him to start from ninth place on the grid in Race 2 – as in WorldSSP, WorldSPB, and WorldWCR, the nine fastest times from Race 1 will then be moved up to start Race 2 from the front nine grid places. As such, he found himself up near the business end of the order from the jump in Race 2. He spent the first 11 Laps of the race stuck in P10, before overcoming Alessandro Zaccone (Ecosantagata Althea Racing Team) on Lap 12, Can Oncu (Pata Yamaha Ten Kate Racing) on Lap 15, and WorldSSP challenge rider Corentin Perolari (Honda Racing World Supersport) on the penultimate Lap 16. While the team still have their work cut out to get back into the podium fight where Alcoba ended 2025, Alcoba can say that he leaves Portimao on a positive trajectory.

STARTING OUT STRONG: Natalia Rivera takes her second and third-best WorldWCR results at the season opener

Natalia Rivera (Terra & Vita GRT Yamaha WorldWCR Team) came out swinging as the FIM Women’s Circuit Racing World Championship launched their 2026 campaign at Portimao. The Spanish 19-year-old showed promising signs of growth throughout her 2025 rookie season, finishing the season with a pair of P6s at Magny-Cours, then a pair of P10s at Jerez. For comparison, her average position over her first four races – omitting a disqualification in her first Race in Round 1 at Assen – was P14. The 2026 season debut saw her take the second and third-best results of her young career so far: a P8 in Race 1 and a P7 in Race 2. In both races, she finished with considerable gaps behind her of at least three seconds, much closer to the riders in front of her than those behind; +0.751s from P4 in Race 1, and +0.351s out from that same position in Race 2. If she can keep this trajectory, podium dreams are not out of the question for the #20.

SUZUKI’S RETURN: Back in the paddock and back on the podium

Absent from the paddock since back in 2023 when Rhys Irwin rode the GSXR750 at Donington in WorldSSP, Suzuki are back in the paddock in WorldSPB, and they enjoyed quite the return as the riders sporting their machinery landed standout results! Kas Beekmans (VLR Racing Team Suzuki) got the ball rolling early with P3 in the Superpole session, one of three Suzuki bikes in the top five, but unfortunately, his results on the weekend otherwise didn’t pan out after he was penalised to start from P14 in Race 2 and finished P17. Belgian rider Ferre Fleerackers (Track & Trades Wixx Racing) picked up the slack in Race 1 as he skilfully rode his Suzuki GSX-8R to P3 in WorldSPB’s first ever-race for the manufacturer’s first podium in the paddock since Alex Lowes took a WorldSBK podium at Buriram back in 2015! Fleerackers’ partner in crime, Jeffrey Buis  landed very strong results as well, finishing P4 in Race 1, and top Suzuki in P6 in the closing Race 2. A welcome return to the paddock for the Japanese manufacturer.

Follow all these stories and more Live and OnDemand as they take on Assen next round starting April 17^th! Subscribe today to the WorldSBK VideoPass for comprehensive access to the paddock!