Maria Herrera claimed her third pole position of the 2026 WorldWCR season on Friday at Balaton Park, delivering an outstanding performance in the Superpole session for the Terra&Vita GRT Yamaha WorldWCR Team. Her teammate, Natalia Rivera, secured 10th place on the grid.
The day began with Free Practice 1 at 09:40 local time, where both riders returned to the track on their Yamaha R7 machines. With the circuit still slightly dirty early on, grip was limited, making conditions challenging. Despite this, both riders posted competitive lap times during the 25-minute session. Herrera topped the timesheets with a 1:54.179, while Rivera finished 10th with a 1:56.585.
Later in the afternoon, during a much hotter Superpole session at 14:10, both Terra&Vita GRT Yamaha riders pushed hard to secure strong starting positions for Race 1. Reigning World Champion Herrera showed impressive pace from the outset, consistently improving her lap times to clinch pole position with a superb 1:52.264. Rivera also made solid progress, improving significantly to secure a top-10 finish with a time of 1:54.694.
The Terra&Vita GRT Yamaha WorldWCR Team will return to action tomorrow at Balaton Park for Race 1, which is scheduled to begin at 13:00 local time.
Maria Herrera: "That was a tough one, believe me! This morning it wasn’t easy to get back into the rhythm, and it took some time to find my pace. My injury didn’t help either. However, we worked hard and tried something different, confident it would pay off—and it did in Superpole. I had to push really hard, and I’m happy with the result. It shows that all our effort is paying off and that we’re moving in the right direction. Tomorrow won’t be easy; it will be another close race. We need to stay focused and prepare well for both races."
“I’m really excited to start this new season and to continue working with the team. Last year was an important learning experience for all of us, and we made constant progress throughout the championship. Now it’s time to take the next step. We finished 2025 close to the front group, and the goal this season is to be there consistently and fight for our first podium. I feel more confident, more prepared and more determined than ever. Having Maria as a teammate is a huge opportunity — she’s a benchmark in this championship, and I want to learn everything I can from her. I’m hungry to improve and ready to prove myself.” "Overall, we made good progress throughout the day, especially from morning to afternoon, which led to a decent qualifying result. However, we’re still losing a bit too much time in certain sections of the track, so we need to work on that. I’m confident we can find improvements to gain more speed. A strong start will be crucial tomorrow to stay close to the front group. We have the potential for a good race, so we’ll stay positive and focused on what’s ahead."
