Assen awaits for Andrea Locatelli and Jason O’Halloran as Pata Maxus Yamaha prepare for Round 3 of the 2025 FIM Superbike World Championship.

The site of his maiden WorldSBK podium in 2021 – and a further two besides – Assen is something of a happy hunting ground for Locatelli. The 28-year-old’s best finish in the Netherlands came in 2022 with second place in Race 2 and after a highly-competitive weekend in Portimão last month, both “Loka” and the team hope to carry positive moment forward for a chance to fight for the top positions once again.

O’Halloran, riding for Pata Maxus Yamaha while Jonathan Rea continues to recovery from injury, has plenty of experience in Assen from his British Superbike career – the Dutch circuit playing host to the UK series on a number of occasions in the past. His second race weekend in the premier World Championship production class will provide further opportunity to get up to speed on the Yamaha R1 WorldSBK.

“For the majority of the Assen Circuit, it’s fast and flowing and the rider wants an agile bike for the many changes of direction,” Yamaha’s Rider Coach Eugene Laverty explains. “But at the same time stability is important through Ruskenhoek and the fast corners in the run-up to the Geert Timmer chicane. The fast changes of direction for Turns 7 and 14 are very physical, so it’s an area of the track where a taller rider can benefit simply due to their leverage. All-out horsepower is not so important at Assen, whereas smooth power delivery keeps the bike stable over the 21-Lap race. The right side of the front tyre can however get a hard time on this circuit, so Pirelli’s harder compound SC2 may come into play for the races – and then of course there’s the mid-April Dutch weather forecast to keep an eye on!”

The FIM Women’s Circuit Racing World Championship returns to thrill audiences with its close, competitive action this weekend – as Assen joins the calendar for the all-female series for the first time. After a successful pre-season test at Cremona last week, Beatriz Neila (Ampito Crescent Yamaha) aims to fight for podiums and race wins from the outset, with the ultimate goal of becoming World Champion in 2025.

Andrea Locatelli:
“I’m really happy after Portimão, we showed strong potential in every race and now we need to bring all these good points to Assen because it is another good track for me and for the Yamaha R1. We will do our best to try to make another great weekend, which I think will be possible to do! Let’s continue like this, working to get the maximum from the package we have at the moment. I also enjoy riding in Assen, it’s a fast track and I can’t wait to go there this week – it was the place where I got my first podium in WorldSBK. I have all the ingredients to be competitive and strong here, so now it’s time to focus for the weekend!”

Jason O’Halloran:
“I’m really happy to come back for another race with Pata Maxus Yamaha, I’m looking forward to seeing all the guys again and jumping back on the R1 WorldSBK! Everything will be more familiar for me and the goal will be just to continue to progress and learn as quickly as I can during the sessions. Hopefully this weekend we are a little bit faster and we can get on to competing with the next group of guys ahead of us, keep improving, keep looking for ways to work on the package and enjoy riding around the beautiful circuit that is Assen! I’m really looking forward to the next couple of weeks, of course Assen first and then directly to Le Mans 24 Hours with YART – both amazing events.”

Featured Image: Yamaha Racing