Andrea Locatelli has affirmed his position as Yamaha\u2019s WorldSBK team leader since 2024, and now takes a third new teammate in five years.<\/p>\n
Locatelli ascended to Yamaha\u2019s factory World Superbike<\/a> team in 2021 after a dominant run to the WorldSSP title in 2020.\u00a0<\/p>\n Teammate to Toprak Razgatlioglu<\/a> that year, Locatelli was a part of a campaign that saw a Yamaha rider become Superbike World Champion for the first time since 2009.<\/p>\n Since then, however, the R1\u2019s competitiveness has declined, Locatelli\u2019s Assen win in Race 2 of the 2025 Dutch Round being the only victory for the bike since Razgatlioglu left at the end of 2024 for BMW\u2019s more powerful M1000 RR, on which he became champion twice more.<\/p>\n Razgatlioglu\u2019s replacement at Yamaha in 2024 was Jonathan Rea<\/a>, the greatest rider in WorldSBK history, but one that was never able to be competitive on the R1. Locatelli was strong in comparison to Rea during their two years together at Yamaha, the Italian out-scoring the Northern Irish rider by 332 points across 2024 and 2025 seasons that were both marred by injury for Rea.<\/p>\n Article continues below ADVERTISEMENT<\/p>\n Article continues below ADVERTISEMENT<\/p>\n It\u2019s fair to say, then, that following the retirement of Rea at the end of the 2025 season, Yamaha\u2019s search was for a rider to come into Andrea Locatelli\u2019s team, rather than for someone to take the wheel of the programme.<\/p>\n Xavi Vierge was the rider selected for the role, and Locatelli was able to get a decent first impression of his new teammate during the one-day test in Jerez after the final round of 2025 at the end of October.<\/p>\n \u201cAfter a long time with Toprak [Razgatlioglu], then Jonathan [Rea], I have a new teammate [Vierge],\u201d Andrea Locatelli<\/a> told WorldSBK.com at the EICMA show in Milan.<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s from Spain, he\u2019s a nice guy, a good guy, we can spend a [bit of] time to talk also a little bit Spain which is something positive for me, I like it.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s a nice guy, really calm. It feels like he doesn\u2019t like to talk too much, but he\u2019s a good guy, a nice guy.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below ADVERTISEMENT<\/p>\n Article continues below ADVERTISEMENT<\/p>\n \u201cI have the opportunity to know him better during next year and let\u2019s see.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cHis riding style looks a bit more close to me, more similar, he\u2019s a young guy like me so I\u2019m positive to try to work together and try to do our best on-track.\u201d<\/p>\n Unfinished business<\/p>\n