Jesus Rios’ Debut: Portugal Offers a Glimpse of 2026

Friday, November 7th

The Portuguese weekend kicks off with cool conditions and a cloudy sky. FP1 was marked by wind and a cold track—far from ideal for the riders.
Despite this, Nicola Carraro completed a steadily improving session, lap after lap gaining confidence and feeling with the bike.
A solid debut also for Jesús Ríos, who was making his first appearance in the World Championship. He spent the session getting to grips with his new bike. After several returns to the box to work with the team, the young Spaniard managed to improve his lap time by over two seconds, ending a positive learning session.

Practice began on a slightly damp track due to rain during the earlier sessions. Despite the not-so-perfect conditions, Nicola Carraro confirmed his progress by moving up to 15th place halfway through the session with a strong pace.
Second World Championship outing for Jesús Ríos, who continued his adaptation by improving his best lap time by nearly a second compared to the morning.
Rain returned in the final minutes, wetting the track again and preventing any further improvements before the chequered flag.

Saturday, November 8th

The second day of the Portuguese weekend opens with a track still wet, despite the clear sky and sunshine in the morning. The riders hit the track from the very beginning of Free Practice 2, working with a wet‑weather setup to make the most of the mixed/humid conditions.
Nicola Carraro immediately shows competitiveness, finding excellent feeling with the asphalt and finishing in the top 6 in the early minutes. Lap after lap he keeps improving, climbing to 4th place in the first half of the session, working solo and showing great confidence on the bike.
Also confirming his progress is Jesús Ríos: the young Spaniard gets comfortable on the wet track and manages to stay consistently in the top 10, steadily improving his time benchmarks.
In the last ten minutes, both riders return to the track together to complete the work planned by the team, ending the session productively and gathering valuable data ahead of qualifying.

The track returns completely dry for the qualifying session, prompting Team Snipers to change their working approach compared to the morning practice.
Jesús Ríos continues to show remarkable progress: although he doesn’t secure direct access to Q2, he significantly improves his benchmark time compared to Friday’s dry session. A result that confirms his rapid adaptation to both the new bike and the Portimão circuit during his first world‑championship weekend.
Solid session also for Nicola Carraro, who completes the limited number of laps improving his times consistently, despite riding solo without slipstreams. The final time isn’t enough to reach Q2, but the work done proves valuable, instilling in the team the confidence of being able to deliver a good result come race time.

Sunday, November 9th

Extraordinary start for the new arrival Jesús Ríos, who amazed everyone on his World Championship debut by gaining seven positions on the opening lap, immediately moving up to 18th place. The Spaniard then remained in constant battle with a large group of riders, including teammate Nicola Carraro, who also made an excellent start, gaining three positions in the first lap.

Ríos impressed with his pace and aggression, staying firmly within the group fighting for the points and even leading the pack for several laps, showing great maturity despite his very young age. His steady progression brought him up to 15th place, thanks to a series of decisive and precise overtakes.
Carraro also managed a smart race, alternating between attacking and defending with great composure, and maintaining a competitive pace throughout the race.

With six laps to go, Ríos’ race ended with a crash while battling for points—an error born out of determination and eagerness to shine, luckily without any physical consequences for the young rookie.
Nicola Carraro, meanwhile, continued his charge, climbing up to 15th at the finish, gaining six positions and bringing the team back into the points.
An overall encouraging performance for the team, confirming its potential and looking ahead to 2026 with confidence, aware of the technical and personal growth shown by both riders in this penultimate round of the season.

Comments

Nicola Carraro is aware he can aim higher:
“It’s a pity because I started a bit far back and got stuck in the second group. We brought home one point, but these aren’t the positions where we should be. We’ll keep working to earn a better starting spot already from qualifying. See you in Valencia.”

Jesus Rios' words on his debut:
"I'm very happy with the progress this weekend. We're adapting quickly to the Honda. It's a shame that FP2 was in wet conditions, but still, we're gaining kilometers and improving a lot. Big thanks to the Snipers Team and my crew for the great job they’ve done.”