Herrera Claims Dominant Fourth Pole of the Season as Terra&Vita GRT Yamaha Shines at Donington Park

The Terra&Vita GRT Yamaha WorldWCR Team enjoyed an outstanding qualifying day at Donington Park, with Maria Herrera securing a commanding pole position for Round 4 of the 2026 FIM Women's Circuit Racing World Championship. The Spaniard claimed her fourth pole position of the season in record-breaking fashion, while teammate Natalia Rivera will line up seventh on the grid after a determined Superpole performance.

After finishing third in Friday morning's Free Practice, reigning World Champion and championship leader Herrera carried her strong form into the decisive Tissot Superpole session. Setting an exceptional lap of 1'39.091, the Spaniard not only secured pole position by more than half a second but also established a new Superpole lap record around the iconic Donington Park circuit, underlining the pace of both rider and Yamaha R7.

Rivera also delivered a positive qualifying performance as she continued to build confidence around the British venue. The 19-year-old initially set a best lap of 1'41.483 to qualify ninth, before post-session revisions promoted her to seventh on the starting grid, giving her a strong platform for Saturday's opening race.

The Terra&Vita GRT Yamaha WorldWCR Team will return to the track on Saturday for the morning Warm Up before Race 1 gets underway at 13:00 local time.

Maria Herrera: "It's always nice to be back on pole position and it's a great reward for all the work the team has done, but the weekend is still long and we need to stay fully focused. We already had a good feeling this morning and knew exactly where we could improve for qualifying, so I'm happy we managed to put everything together. I expect Race 1 to be very competitive with several riders capable of fighting at the front, so it won't be an easy race. We'll prepare as well as possible and aim to fight for the best result."

Natalia Rivera: "Overall, it was a positive qualifying session. Starting from the third row gives us a solid opportunity for the race. We were a little unfortunate with the yellow flag at the end because I think there was potential to improve our lap time, but I'm still satisfied with the progress we made. Now we'll keep working to find a little more pace and our goal is to stay with the leading group and fight as far forward as possible."

image_pdf

STAY UP TO DATE WITH OUR LATEST NEWS

Language:

Select here the method by which you wish to receive our communications:

You can unsubscribe anytime by clicking on the link in the footer of our e-mails. For information on our privacy practices, click on the link in the footer.

We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By clicking here to sign up, you are aware that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing. Read more about Mailchimp's privacy practices here.

linkedin facebook pinterest youtube rss twitter instagram facebook-blank rss-blank linkedin-blank pinterest youtube twitter instagram