Andrea Locatelli led Pata Prometeon Yamaha home with a seventh-place finish in WorldSBK Race 1 at Most in the Czech Republic today, with teammate Jonathan Rea fighting back to tenth.

At the halfway point of the 2024 FIM Superbike World Championship, a tricky Superpole session saw Locatelli qualify ninth on the grid while Rea was hampered by a crash at Turn 16 on his first flying lap, necessitating a monumental effort by his team to repair the #65 Yamaha R1 WorldSBK in just seven minutes.

Starting from the middle of the pack and coming through to the front was always going to be a tall order for both riders, especially with the “bottleneck” entry to Turn 1 at Most that often forces riders to take the run-off route.

Locatelli was knocked back to P12 in the opening lap but consistently picked up places and his pace throughout the race. Rea was also knocked to the very back of the field at the first corner and pulled back to P18 at the end of Lap 1 before climbing to 11th at the halfway point and, despite completing a long lap penalty for using the run-off at Turn 1, finally crossing the line in P10.

Andrea Locatelli – SP: P9 / Race 1 P7

“It was one of the best races we’ve had in Misano. We did well during the test, so I was sure that we could do a good race here and I believed in myself and the R1. From the beginning of the year we have made a lot of progress and we always try to make a step forward – we’ve done well here and it’s only Race 1! I believe that tomorrow we can do a little bit better, I would like to finish on the podium. It’s not so far, but it will not be easy because we know our competitors are strong. Let’s see, but the opportunity is there so we will try. We have a lot of support here from Yamaha, and I never feel any extra pressure here for my “home race” probably because Yamaha has become like my family. What we feel here in Misano this weekend is something positive, in the past Misano was probably not the best for my riding style but step-by-step and year-by-year I can probably adapt better with more experience, so what we did today was a step forward.”

Jonathan Rea – SP: P15 / Race 1: P10

“Really frustrated, because my race ended before it had begun. It was a knock-on effect from a bad qualifying, being in the middle of a mess in the first corners and then when things started stringing out in the fast section, I got quite close to Aegerter in the fast Turn 12 and just opened up the line a little bit to create some space but ran over the shoulder of the corner and to be honest from that moment, it was just a blur really – it was that fast. I went down and it felt like I was tumbling forever, but I’m so thankful to have good protection from Alpinestars and Arai – they kept me safe today, apart from a few bumps and bruises, but I should be good for tomorrow. The target is to try to get some good feeling tomorrow, make a good start and start finding some confidence.”

Andrea Locatelli took his third podium of the 2024 FIM Superbike World Championship for Pata Yamaha Prometeon with a superb Sunday performance in Race 2 at Most in the Czech Republic today.

By improving his start position with a sixth place in the Superpole Race this morning, Locatelli was able to make clean progress from the beginning of Race 2 and controlled attacks during the 22-lap feature-length distance. A spectacular overtake on fellow Yamaha rider Remy Gardner, hard on the brakes into Turn 1 on Lap 6, signalled the Italian rider’s potential for the podium and from there, Locatelli simply got stronger as he closed in on Michael van der Mark and quickly secured third place on Lap 13.

The podium was a welcome 60th birthday present for Locatelli’s Crew Chief Tom O’Kane, as well as the birthday of Yamaha WorldSBK Technical Coordinator Riccardo Tisci and of course, a well-deserved boost for the entire #55 crew.

Achieving the target of securing a stronger grid position for Race 2 in the Superpole Race, Jonathan Rea started the final outing of the weekend in the middle of the third row. The #65 rider fought hard as the race developed with thrilling passes on Xavi Vierge, Iker Lecuona and finally Michael Ruben Rinaldi to take sixth overall. Understandably, both the six-time WorldSBK Champion and his own crew are hungry for more and now target the next round at Autódromo Internacional do Algarve to take another step. 

Andrea Locatelli – SPRC: P6 / Race 2: P3

“I think we did a good job today! To start from P6 is not the best, and also especially this morning from P9 in the Superpole Race. But step-by-step we improved my R1 and I think today in Race 2, we made a big step forward and the feeling was much, much better. It was really warm and much more difficult this afternoon, but I was able to keep the confidence with the bike until the end with good grip so this is a good point! We can be happy with the podium, we know that the other riders are always trying to push and it’s never easy to fight with them – but with Yamaha we made a big step forward today and we had a strong race, thanks to all the guys because this was a good gift for us – and for Tom and Riki’s birthdays!”

Jonathan Rea – SPRC: P8 / Race 2: P6

“The trajectory of the weekend was a positive one – from qualifying P15 to achieve 10th, eighth and sixth positions is somewhat positive but it really highlighted the importance of qualifying because track position is everything. My pace in all races was a little bit better than those around me, and even to be a bit more in front could have been achievable this weekend – but just trying to get though on traffic was really difficult. I made a really good start in Race 2 after giving myself half a chance from the third row of the grid, but someone came through over the top in T2 and it killed my drive into Turn 3 – but never give up on the race, always! The podium group was a bit faster, but once I settled into my rhythm I was able to dispose of the Hondas pretty quick and Rinaldi was the next target. I just kept my head down lap after lap and caught him. We had a bit of tyre left, I could see the pace of the front guys was dropping but they were too far ahead. It ended on a positive note – thanks to the team for all their hard work this weekend, I didn’t make my own job or the team’s job easy this weekend with the crash in Superpole! We will come back and try to do a better job in Portimão.”

Paul Denning – Team Principal, Pata Prometeon Yamaha:

“Hot weather, a huge crowd and finally this afternoon in Race 2, a well-deserved podium for Loka and the team here in Most. The guys have been working really hard to give both Loka and JR the best R1s they possibly can and despite JR’s races being compromised by the qualifying crash, he managed to improve the result in every race – and improve the consistency and performance of his bike. WorldSBK is so competitive at the moment that a small discrepancy in performance means that a lot of riders on good bikes will be filling in the positions towards the front of the field, so it was definitely positive to end the weekend with our best results of the event – topped off by a really strong, super consistent race from Loka and an overdue return to the podium!”