Andrea Locatelli gets his 2025 season campaign underway at Phillip Island.

The first Friday free practice sessions of the 2025 FIM Superbike World Championship are ‘in the books’ for Andrea Locatelli and Pata Maxus Yamaha at Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit, Australia. 

The 28-year-old Italian, lining up for his fifth season in the premier production racing class, completed long runs during both FP1 and FP2 in order to provide Yamaha’s Official Team with the best opportunity to refine his R1 WorldSBK to fight for the podium this weekend.
Due to the high-grip nature of the asphalt surface here, “flag-to-flag” regulations will be enforced for the two 20-lap long races in Australia, with a compulsory pit stop required to change rear tyres around half-race distance. Riders will have a three-lap window to pit and the #55 crew has utilised every opportunity to practice and prepare, including during the sessions today.

Teammate Jonathan Rea was sadly ruled out of the first round of the season following an accident in testing on Monday where he sustained fractures to his left foot, and has since returned home to Northern Ireland to begin his recovery.

Andrea Locatelli: P10 – 1’29.849 (FP1)
“We tried especially in the afternoon to try the race simulation to prepare for tomorrow, I was quite happy! I think we need to find a bit extra 0.2-0.3s each lap to try to stay a bit more in front. But, in general, the feeling is good and we will see what we can do and where we can try to improve. Tomorrow in the race will be different all together, but we have a reference and let’s see what we can do. I think we have a good point to be faster, this was the first day – the position in the end was not the best because we never tried to make a qualifying lap time. Overall, I was happy with the work we did today and tomorrow we will be ready to fight.”

Paul Denning – Team Principal, Pata Maxus Yamaha:
“Starting the first round of the championship without Jonathan competing has naturally put a dampener on the Phillip Island event for Pata Maxus Yamaha, but we’re fortunate to have Andrea Locatelli on the other side of the box who is going to give his all to put his R1 as close as he possibly can to the front of the field this weekend. He’s had a solid day, completing long runs in both FP1 and FP2, and the race rhythm looks quite promising. We need to improve a little bit on the outright lap time and outright performance, so the team will be studying Andrea’s comments and his R1’s data carefully tonight with the goal to make a step towards the podium pace tomorrow morning.”

Featured Image: Yamaha Racing.