Yamaha have announced that Andrea Locatelli will remain with the Pata Yamaha squad for two more seasons until the end of the 2025 World Superbike campaign

A day after it was announced that Toprak Razgatlioglu would be leaving Yamaha it has been revealed that his current teammate will be staying with the Japanese manufacturer. Andrea Locatelli will be remaining in blue for the next two seasons.

The Italian rider made the switch to the World Superbike paddock for the 2020 season when he joined World Supersport and won the title in the same year. Locatelli then made the move to Superbikes with the factory Yamaha squad for 2021.

In his first two seasons in World Superbikes Locatelli finished 4th and 5th in the standings. So far in 2023 the young Italian has stood on the podium five times and is third in the Championship standings. The first win is yet to come for Locatelli in World Superbikes but it is not far away.

Now Locatelli will become the number one rider in the Factory Yamaha as he will take the mantle off of Razgatlioglu.

“My objective was to continue with Yamaha, so I’m very happy to have signed for another two years. One of the best things about Yamaha is the people who believe in me, starting with Eric de Seynes, Paolo Pavesio and Andrea Dosoli, but also Riccardo Tisci and all the engineers and technicians who work so hard to give me the best bike possible. The same is true of the team. Since I arrived in WorldSBK I have enjoyed incredible support from Paul Denning and Andrew Pitt, and everyone involved in the project.”

“All together we have achieved some good results but, more importantly, we have walked side-by-side on a path that has allowed me to feel more and more confident,” continued a philosophical Locatelli. We still have room for improvement in many areas, but I truly believe that with such a good relationship we will grow stronger together. If consistency is key as they say, then I think that with this extension, we’ve laid the groundwork for a bright future.”

Yamaha Motor Europe’s Road Racing Manager Andrea Dosoli had this to say about Locatelli’s extension: “It gives me great pleasure to announce that we will continue for two more years with Andrea Locatelli, in line with Yamaha’s vision of nurturing talent and forging a long-term relationship with our riders. Our journey with Andrea started in 2020 when he dominated WorldSSP aboard our R6, but his performance in 2021 when we moved him up to WorldSBK was equally impressive, finishing the season fourth and as rookie of the year.”

“We have seen Andrea mature as a rider, continually progressing to the point where he is now one of the strongest in the Championship. He has shown himself to be capable of making informed technical decisions during testing, whilst his determination in the short races is matched by his intelligent management of the longer feature races. These are all good signs, and this is what convinced us that, together, we can make further steps and secure even better results in the future. On behalf of Yamaha, but also from me personally, I would like to thank Andrea for the trust he has shown in us.”

Images from WorldSBK.com