Andrea Locatelli and Yamaha off the pace at Portimao: what's wrong?

Andrea Locatelli and Yamaha struggled quite a bit in the first Superbike World Championship practice sessions: in Portimão, only the 16th fastest time.

We are only at the second round of a 2026 season that still has ten more events Yamaha would gladly do without. The outlook in World Superbike is not the rosiest. If the forgettable start at Phillip Island weren’t enough, the less-than-encouraging moment for the House of the Three Tuning Forks continues over the undulations of the Autódromo Internacional do Algarve in Portimão. In a Friday practice classification monopolized (for a change...) by the Ducati Panigale V4 R, you have to go down to tenth place to find the first R1, ridden by Xavi Vierge, but the real concern is above all our own Andrea Locatelli.

On the track where he has taken three podiums in his World Superbike career, Andrea Locatelli did no better than sixteenth, even behind Tommy Bridewell in his personal seasonal debut with the Advocates Ducati team. Seeing the 2020 Supersport World Champion so far back—the only one able to (partially) patch up Yamaha’s difficulties at Phillip Island with fifth place at the end of a rainy Race 2—gives pause for thought. For an R1 that is no longer a class benchmark, the feeling is of a manufacturer that, despite its efforts, finds itself up against the wall due to a now outdated technical project.

Results and performance are clearly below the expectations of a factory team like Pata Maxus Yamaha, with “Loca” fasting from the podium for a full twenty-two races now (third place in the Misano 2025 Superpole Race). The unequivocal verdict of the stopwatch is only the tip of the iceberg. “This morning the feeling, all things considered, wasn’t bad. I hoped to improve further in the afternoon, but instead we struggled with the bike,” Andrea Locatelli explained at the end of the day.

For Andrea Locatelli, it’s slim pickings at the start of 2026: 14 points scored in the first three races, thirteenth in the championship. Judging by the outcomes of free practice in Portimão, the suspicion is that there will be more teeth-gritting to do over the Portuguese weekend. The podium, which for Yamaha should be the bare minimum, has today become anything but simple to reach. “We have to roll up our sleeves and work hard,” AL55 continued. “I know I can be fast if we can find the right direction. We suffered with corner exit in some sections of the track: it’s a pity after the good feelings in the morning. We have to look ahead and do our best, as always.”