The 2026 FIM Yamaha BLU CRU R3 World Cup heads into the second half its season as Round 4 commences at the Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours this weekend and it’s all to play for with the top five riders covered by just 15 points ahead of the final three rounds.
The Dominican Republic’s Xarly Mendez had begun to extend a healthy championship lead but saw most of this wiped away after an incident in Race 2 at Donington Park back in July. Still atop of the standings, Mendez sits just three points clear of Italy’s Emanuele Pastore ahead of the season’s resumption.
Angelo Mottola (Italy) is third in the standings, four points back on Mendez with Aymon Bocanegra (Brazil) while the USA’s Chris Clark catapulted himself into title contention with victory in the dramatic Race 2 at Donington – he now sits just 12 points off the lead.
With 150 points still on the table, Riichi Takahira (Japan), Alessandro Binder (Switzerland), Leonardo Marques (Brazil) and Rintaro Takemoto (Japan) will also be looking to climb the championship standings this weekend looking for a final assault on the championship over the final two rounds.
Magny-Cours returns to the World Cup calendar for the first time since 2024, meaning many of the current grid have not yet raced at the French track, one notable exception is Bocanegra, who made his debut in the championship at Magny-Cours in 2024 and celebrated a podium finish in his very first race.
The weekend gets underway with free practice at 09:00 (Local Time, UTC+2) on Friday morning ahead of the Superpole session at 13:15. The two races will take place at 10:20 and 10:10 on Saturday and Sunday respectively and will be broadcast live on the Yamaha Racing YouTube channel here.