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SBK, Yamaha loses Toprak and locks down Andrea Locatelli for 2 more years

The twenty-six-year-old Italian has signed with the Japanese manufacturer until 2025: "we’ve laid the groundwork for a bright future". Dosoli: "we can make further steps together"

SBK: Yamaha loses Toprak and locks down Andrea Locatelli for 2 more years

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As we already anticipated HERE, Andrea Locatelli's future in SBK is now officially in blue. The Italian, whose contract will expire at the end of the season, has signed for two more years with Yamaha. A very different choice from that of his future ex box-mate Toprak, who recently announced the end of his rapport with the Japanese company, which he will leave at the end of the championship.

As can be read in the Yamaha press release, “renewing the agreement with Locatelli for two more years demonstrates Yamaha’s commitment to their unique step-up program and their philosophy of developing in-house talent within the World Superbike platform.”

Andrea Dosoli: Road Racing Manager, Yamaha Motor Europe, commented: “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 World Supersport aboard our R6, but his performance in 2021 when we moved him up to World Superbike 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 series. He has shown himself to be capable of making informed technical decisions during testing, while 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.”

Currently lying third in the World Superbike championship standings 33 points ahead of fourth-placed Jonathan Rea, and a podium finisher five times already this season, Locatelli first rode for Yamaha back in 2020 when he switched from Moto2 to World Supersport. The rider from Bergamo dominated, winning 12 of the 14 races on his way to being crowned world champion. 2021 was the year in which he moved into World Superbike, a season in which he finished fourth, while in 2022 he was fifth.

Andrea Locatelli added: “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 World Superbike 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. 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.”

 

 

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