Andrea Locatelli reveals: "There's a problem that's been giving me a hard time for some time

Locatelli overall satisfied after the Superbike test at Jerez, although he highlights the fact that he has an annoying limitation when riding the Yamaha R1.

Fourth fastest time for Andrea Locatelli on the second and final day of testing at Jerez de la Frontera. The Pata Maxus Yamaha team rider continued the work already set on day 1 together with new crew chief Giulio Nava, trying to improve feeling and speed with the R1.

Locatelli prefers not to overcommit after the two days of Superbike testing in Andalusia, also because he’s still dealing with an issue on his R1: "Conditions at Jerez are always a bit particular, so giving a definitive judgment on many things becomes a bit complicated. Anyway, I’m fairly satisfied with today. We tried to understand how to improve the bike, we’re struggling with a small problem I’ve had for a while: a vibration on corner exit. This slows us down a bit in the work on details and in trying to understand whether the solutions are good or not. Overall, though, the balance is more than positive. We’re working to improve the technical package; we tried and found some positive things. We’ll look to confirm them in January, so we can start with a fairly good and complete package."

Asked about the kind of work done at Jerez, the Lombard rider replied: "Yesterday we worked mainly on the setup and today we tried a few small things, but with the little problem I’m having with the bike we’re struggling to understand whether the changes are really improvements or not. I’d be patient before choosing things; I’d try everything again in January and also on a different track, like Portimao."

What is Locatelli missing to be consistently fighting for podiums and wins? More than something in him, it’s probably something missing on the Yamaha R1: "Making a step in terms of race pace is never easy, it can come when I have a package that gives me the chance to go beyond what I’m already doing. Now I’m also working with a new crew chief and we’ll try to optimize everything we have at every circuit. There will be many rivals, we’ll see where we end up. I’m positive, because I know the bike well, we know where we need to improve, what the strong points are."

The arrival of a new teammate like Xavi Vierge in the box and also of Stefano Manzi in the GYTR GRT team are positives for Loka: "When the level is high, you can help each other go in the same direction and find solutions more easily. I’m happy they’re settling in well; it’s also the result of the work done up to now to try to improve the bike every year, the package works fairly well. In my box we still need to work to understand what we need and what we can improve. I’m confident; I’d already like to be at Phillip Island to see how it goes, but first we have tests and we definitely need them. It will be a great 2026."