Andrea Locatelli has never been this bad in WorldSBK: Assen is the right track for Yamaha's redemption

SBK 2026 season start below expectations for Locatelli and Yamaha: Assen is a special place and there could be a chance to return to better positions.

Andrea Locatelli had never started a season this poorly since he began racing in the Superbike World Championship. After two rounds he has only 25 points; even in his rookie year (2021) he did better (30 points). Between Phillip Island and Portimão he wasn’t able to be sufficiently competitive with a Yamaha R1 that, overall, hasn’t looked particularly strong. There’s a lot of work to do in the Pata Maxus Yamaha team garage, where Xavi Vierge is also dissatisfied with the results achieved so far: 15 points in total, with three DNFs in Australia.

Both riders would like to fight for the podium and hope to do so at the next WorldSBK round scheduled at Assen on the weekend of April 17–19. The TT Circuit could be the right place for the Iwata manufacturer’s comeback.

The historic Cathedral of Speed is very dear to Locatelli, as it’s where he took his first and only Superbike victory. In 2025, helped by Nicolò Bulega’s unfortunate retirement, he managed to climb to the top step of the podium in Race 2. He had finished second in Race 1 and then came fourth in the Superpole Race. A very positive weekend for him and the Pata Maxus Yamaha team, the best in a championship in which he then managed to finish in the top 3 only in the SR at Misano. Assen is also the place where Loka achieved his very first SBK podium, in 2021, his debut year in the category: third place in Race 2. He then scored two more podiums (second in Race 2 in 2022 and third in Race 2 in 2023).

The 2020 Supersport World Champion looks ahead to the next appointment at the TT Circuit with great enthusiasm and confidence: "How could I not remember one of the best weekends of my life! Getting my first WorldSBK win in 2025 was special, and it’s definitely a fantastic track: flowing, fast, I love this kind of circuit. It’s a wonderful memory, but of course we have to look ahead, try to repeat ourselves and get good results. I want to be realistic, because the first two rounds of this season weren’t easy and I need to find a better feeling to be faster, but for sure we are working hard to try to maximize our package."

What he has done at Assen in the past brings optimism for the weekend, but Locatelli knows that every year is a story of its own and it will be crucial to work effectively from FP1 to build a positive weekend: "The first thing will be to start well on Friday and push hard right away, to get a good reference for the weekend, then we’ll see. I think the most important thing right now is to try to rediscover the same speed and the same feeling as in the past, because I’m sure the results will come after that. Assen’s past results can give us the confidence we need to always believe in what we are capable of."

The desire for redemption is strong; the Lombard rider expected to start the SBK 2026 season with decidedly better results. Having tests heavily ruined by bad weather was a big problem: true, it was an issue for everyone, but some are paying for it more than others. We’ll see if we witness a sparkling Yamaha at Assen.