Andrea Locatelli credits the rain and salvages Yamaha's weekend in Australia: "It's not enough"

The SBK round at Phillip Island wasn’t thrilling for Yamaha, but Locatelli did well in the wet to grab a top 5: a change of pace will be needed at Portimão.

Already from testing it was clear that the first event of the 2026 Superbike calendar would be short on satisfaction for Yamaha, a feeling confirmed after free practice as well. Fortunately, the rain that fell in Race 2 allowed Andrea Locatelli to be competitive and to close out a complicated weekend with an excellent fifth place (he started fifteenth). The Australian round is now behind them; in Europe the R1 should be more competitive.

Even though the weekend at Phillip Island ended with a solid result, the Lombard rider is not at all satisfied with how things went; he expected to be at a different level: "A tough weekend, the positions we achieved aren’t enough, we can do much more. We came here to be faster, but we didn’t manage it and we need to work hard. Still, we’re trying to stay positive, since in the wet I was able to finish in the top 5. It was tough, I did my best. We certainly lost a lot of points, but it’s not over, it was only the first round and we have to stay positive. The next ones are at Portimão, where last year I was on the podium, and at Assen, where I won."

What was Yamaha missing in Australia? Locatelli can’t pinpoint a specific reason for the R1’s lack of dry competitiveness: "Every weekend is different and every time we arrive at a track the biggest challenge concerns the tire compound. Sometimes it’s hard to explain. We always try to work hard, but every time we have a challenge. I can’t say anything more; we’re definitely working hard and we believe in it. It was only the first race weekend, I tried to do my best and that’s the most important thing. In the box we need to stay positive and forget what didn’t work; we look ahead with the goal of improving."

With the Australian round set aside, the Pata Maxus Yamaha rider’s focus is now on Portimão, where a test will also be held before the next Superbike race weekend (March 27–29): "In the winter we practically didn’t ride before Phillip Island," he commented, "so it’s not easy. I hope the two days of testing at Portimão will help us work, trying different new things and achieving a good feeling and a good base setup. In Europe the situation always changes; Phillip Island is a strange track: two years ago I was close to winning and this year I struggled. Anyway, that’s not important anymore; we look ahead."

Finishing Race 1 in thirteenth and the Superpole Race in fourteenth was extremely disappointing for Locatelli, who is counting on Europe to bounce back. In 2025 at Portimão he took the following results across the three races: third, fifth, fourth. At the Autódromo Internacional do Algarve we should see a more on-point R1 with all its riders.