Balaton Park Circuit
A challenging Race 1 for Honda HRC at Balaton
WorldSBK work continues for Somkiat Chantra and Yuki Kunii, who completed Race 1 with race pace not yet where they want it to be.
The Honda HRC team is at the Balaton Park Circuit in Hungary for round 4 of the 2026 Superbike World Championship, with Saturday bringing the Superpole qualifying and the first of the weekend’s 21-lap races.
Somkiat Chantra is joined by Yuki Kunii this weekend, the young Japanese rider replacing the injured Jake Dixon. First up for the pair was Free Practice 3, during which both riders were able to improve on Friday’s lap times. Next came the 15-minute Superpole, where Yuki continued his upward trend, setting his fastest time of the weekend in 1’41.196 to qualify twenty-second.
On the other side of the garage, Chantra struggled to improve his feeling on the bike and his best flying lap, in 1’41.055, placed him twenty-first, for a spot on the seventh row of the grid for Race 1, just one row in front of Kunii.
Race 1 took place in warm, sunny conditions. Nineteenth after the first lap and despite feeling more comfortable on the bike after the team adjusted the setting, Chantra was unable to establish a rhythm that would allow him to stay with the group ahead. Despite running a clean race, he completed today’s race in nineteenth position.
Kunii made a clean start, but an early mistake saw him run off track and rejoin the race at the back of the field. Separated from his closest rivals by several seconds, the Japanese rider kept his motivation high and made the most of a solitary race to keep improving his pace and gaining valuable experience. Only towards the end of the race did his pace slow due to a natural drop in tyre performance, but, remaining focused, Kunii crossed the line in twenty-first place.
This fourth WorldSBK round will draw to a close tomorrow with the Superpole Race and Race 2, with both riders keen to make better progress.
Somkiat Chantra 35 Honda HRC
“We were able to improve our lap time in every session up until qualifying. In Superpole, though, conditions were a bit hotter and the track temperature had increased. When pushing, I felt more spinning and was struggling particularly out of the corners, so I couldn’t maintain the same speed as in the morning. We understood the situation and tried to address it for the race, making some changes to the bike’s setup and the electronics too. It was a step forward and we saw some improvement in the race, but I still could not maintain the pace we were aiming for. We’ll keep working and pushing to make another step.”
Yuki Kunii 92 Honda HRC
“It was my first ever Superpole. Honestly, I expected a bit more from that session, but I was still missing something, which prevented me from doing better. That said, we made a step compared to yesterday, and that’s positive, because it means we're improving day by day. Just after the race started, a contact with another rider saw me run into the gravel, losing a lot of time. For a moment, I thought my race was over, but I immediately switched mindset and, with many laps still to go, I refocused and tried to do my best. My pace wasn’t bad, and my best lap was similar to my Superpole time. I was starting to close the gap to the rider ahead, and it was all good experience for me. In the final laps, the tyre dropped and my pace slowed, but until then the feeling was okay. We have two more races tomorrow, so I’m keeping my motivation high and will try to take another step forward.”
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