Albert Arenas is the 2026 FIM Supersport champion, securing the title with fourth place in Race 1 at Estoril. The championship came in his debut WorldSSP season, following his move from Moto2, where he finished eighth in the 2025 standings. It is a major first-year result for the AS BLU CRU Racing rider.

Consistency delivered the championship

Arenas collected three wins from 21 races. His first came in Race 2 at Phillip Island, followed by victories at Balaton Park and Misano. The broader record was even more decisive: he made 16 podium appearances, including 11 runner-up finishes, while retiring from three races. Among the races he completed, his lowest result was fifth in Race 1 at Algarve. That level of reliability mattered in a season with nine different race winners. Valentin Debise, riding the Zxmoto 820RR-RS, sits second in the championship standings.

Arenas achieved the result with limited winter testing and no previous experience of the Yamaha R9. He is therefore the fifth rider to win the Supersport title in a first full season, following Dominique Aegerter, Andrea Locatelli, Sandro Cortese and Cal Crutchlow. Niccolò Canepa of Yamaha Motor Europe highlighted the rider’s ability to keep scoring when a win was out of reach, pointing to his consistency and persistence across the campaign.

The R9 adds a second riders’ crown

The Yamaha R9 has now taken the WorldSSP Riders’ Championship in two consecutive seasons, after Stefano Manzi’s 2025 title. The 2026 campaign was only the R9’s second season in the class. Yamaha also secured the Manufacturers’ Championship, its 12th Supersport title, with wins by Can Öncü and Roberto Garcia on the R9 contributing to the result. AS BLU CRU Racing completed the championship haul by winning the Teams’ Championship.