Unpredictable weather conditions failed to get the better of the Pata Maxus Yamaha team as preparations for Round 2 of the FIM Superbike World Championship got underway with a two-day test at the Autódromo Internacional do Algarve, Portimão this week.
The test marked the first outing for Yamaha Factory Racing’s MotoGP test rider, Augusto Fernandez, as he prepares to stand in for Jonathan Rea for the second round of the series as the Northern Irishman continues to recover from the foot injury that ruled him out of the races in Australia last month.
As has been the story for much of WorldSBK’s European pre-season tests in 2025, the weather conditions presented challenges once again. The opening day of action was slow to get underway as the track dried from overnight rain, with the Pata Maxus Yamaha duo heading out on track after lunch as conditions improved.
Andrea Locatelli was able to clock an impressive 60 laps on Friday afternoon as he got to work on a thorough test schedule as the team and Yamaha look for further improvements with the R1 WorldSBK. The Italian finished the opening day third on the timesheets with a quickest lap of 1’41.202.
Conditions flipped for the second day on track with a dry start to proceedings on Saturday before the rain came in the middle of the day, preventing riders from getting back on track until the final hour of the test. Locatelli improved his time to 1’40.702 to complete the test seventh overall having turned a further 39 laps on the second day.
For Fernandez the test was about familiarising himself with the R1 WorldSBK and Pirelli tyres ahead of his WorldSBK debut in just under two weeks’ time. The 2022 Moto2 World Champion got up to speed quickly and was feeling comfortable on the bike completing 42 laps on day one. A crash towards the end of the opening day halted progress slightly, but unhurt, he was able to return to action on Saturday for a further 34 laps on track with a quickest time of 1’41.362.
Together with Yamaha, the team will now analyse the data from the test to prepare for Round 2 of the championship, which takes place at the Autódromo Internacional do Algarve between 28-30 March.
Andrea Locatelli – 1’40.702
“It has not been the simplest of tests with the weather conditions limiting the time on track both days. It has been busy, we tried many different things and it has been hard work deciding which options to choose, but honestly I am pretty happy with the direction. We now have some days to analyse the data ahead of the race weekend so we can keep working in this direction in free practice as we look to improve further for the races. While we did not get a lot of laps, we had enough to understand the feeling, we did not push for a lap time as we focused on completing our test programme but in general I am happy with the test and looking forward to the race weekend.”
Augusto Fernandez – 1’41.362
“We didn’t have the best of luck with the weather, so we’ve not had a lot of track time but overall I can say I am happy with how everything went. For me the test was about getting to know the bike and the team and we made good progress, improving the lap time in the final hour. One of the biggest challenges is getting used to the Pirelli tyres, they’re very different to what I’m used to, but then of course the Superbike is also completely different to the MotoGP bike so there is a lot to learn. With the limited track time, we cannot say we are 100% ready for the race but we have the free practice sessions to further improve and hopefully we can be competitive as racing gets underway. I want to thank the whole team for their hard work, it has not been an easy two days but we have learned a lot and I am looking forward to coming back for the race.”
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