Locatelli Locks in a Podium in Most Race 2 Thriller for Pata Prometeon Yamaha

Andrea Locatelli took his third podium of the 2024 FIM Superbike World Championship for Pata Yamaha Prometeon with a superb Sunday performance in Race 2 at Most in the Czech Republic today.

By improving his start position with a sixth place in the Superpole Race this morning, Locatelli was able to make clean progress from the beginning of Race 2 and controlled attacks during the 22-lap feature-length distance. A spectacular overtake on fellow Yamaha rider Remy Gardner, hard on the brakes into Turn 1 on Lap 6, signalled the Italian rider’s potential for the podium and from there, Locatelli simply got stronger as he closed in on Michael van der Mark and quickly secured third place on Lap 13.

The podium was a welcome 60th birthday present for Locatelli’s Crew Chief Tom O’Kane, as well as the birthday of Yamaha WorldSBK Technical Coordinator Riccardo Tisci and of course, a well-deserved boost for the entire #55 crew.

Achieving the target of securing a stronger grid position for Race 2 in the Superpole Race, Jonathan Rea started the final outing of the weekend in the middle of the third row. The #65 rider fought hard as the race developed with thrilling passes on Xavi Vierge, Iker Lecuona and finally Michael Ruben Rinaldi to take sixth overall. Understandably, both the six-time WorldSBK Champion and his own crew are hungry for more and now target the next round at Autódromo Internacional do Algarve to take another step. 

Andrea Locatelli – SPRC: P6 / Race 2: P3

“I think we did a good job today! To start from P6 is not the best, and also especially this morning from P9 in the Superpole Race. But step-by-step we improved my R1 and I think today in Race 2, we made a big step forward and the feeling was much, much better. It was really warm and much more difficult this afternoon, but I was able to keep the confidence with the bike until the end with good grip so this is a good point! We can be happy with the podium, we know that the other riders are always trying to push and it’s never easy to fight with them – but with Yamaha we made a big step forward today and we had a strong race, thanks to all the guys because this was a good gift for us – and for Tom and Riki’s birthdays!”

Jonathan Rea – SPRC: P8 / Race 2: P6

“The trajectory of the weekend was a positive one – from qualifying P15 to achieve 10th, eighth and sixth positions is somewhat positive but it really highlighted the importance of qualifying because track position is everything. My pace in all races was a little bit better than those around me, and even to be a bit more in front could have been achievable this weekend – but just trying to get though on traffic was really difficult. I made a really good start in Race 2 after giving myself half a chance from the third row of the grid, but someone came through over the top in T2 and it killed my drive into Turn 3 – but never give up on the race, always! The podium group was a bit faster, but once I settled into my rhythm I was able to dispose of the Hondas pretty quick and Rinaldi was the next target. I just kept my head down lap after lap and caught him. We had a bit of tyre left, I could see the pace of the front guys was dropping but they were too far ahead. It ended on a positive note – thanks to the team for all their hard work this weekend, I didn’t make my own job or the team’s job easy this weekend with the crash in Superpole! We will come back and try to do a better job in Portimão.”

Paul Denning – Team Principal, Pata Prometeon Yamaha:

“Hot weather, a huge crowd and finally this afternoon in Race 2, a well-deserved podium for Loka and the team here in Most. The guys have been working really hard to give both Loka and JR the best R1s they possibly can and despite JR’s races being compromised by the qualifying crash, he managed to improve the result in every race – and improve the consistency and performance of his bike. WorldSBK is so competitive at the moment that a small discrepancy in performance means that a lot of riders on good bikes will be filling in the positions towards the front of the field, so it was definitely positive to end the weekend with our best results of the event – topped off by a really strong, super consistent race from Loka and an overdue return to the podium!”