Andrea Locatelli led Pata Prometeon Yamaha home with a seventh-place finish in WorldSBK Race 1 at Most in the Czech Republic today, with teammate Jonathan Rea fighting back to tenth.
At the halfway point of the 2024 FIM Superbike World Championship, a tricky Superpole session saw Locatelli qualify ninth on the grid while Rea was hampered by a crash at Turn 16 on his first flying lap, necessitating a monumental effort by his team to repair the #65 Yamaha R1 WorldSBK in just seven minutes.
Starting from the middle of the pack and coming through to the front was always going to be a tall order for both riders, especially with the “bottleneck” entry to Turn 1 at Most that often forces riders to take the run-off route.
Locatelli was knocked back to P12 in the opening lap but consistently picked up places and his pace throughout the race. Rea was also knocked to the very back of the field at the first corner and pulled back to P18 at the end of Lap 1 before climbing to 11th at the halfway point and, despite completing a long lap penalty for using the run-off at Turn 1, finally crossing the line in P10.
The team is looking for steps forward on the final day in the Czech Republic, with Warm Up at 9:00 CEST, then the Superpole Race at 11:00 and Race 2 at 14:00.
Andrea Locatelli – SP: P9 / Race 1 P7
“Unfortunately, we finished in P9 in Superpole – we needed a tiny bit more for the second row and this was not the best result for a good start in the race. The starting position was the main problem first of all and I think we need to try tomorrow in the Superpole Race to make a step forward. We were not so far but we missed the opportunity just in the beginning of the race to be fighting with the riders in front. But overall, we got a lot of information – we understand what we are missing and where we miss it, so we can adjust on these points and we have time to make a step forward, then we will see what we can do. In general, I am not so happy because it looks like it is hard to ride the bike and difficult to make a big step, but I believe maybe with a lot of data after Race 1 to have a better opportunity tomorrow to fight, especially in the long race.”
Jonathan Rea – SP: P15 / Race 1: P10
“Very difficult Race 1, compounded from a bad qualifying – I made a mistake on my first timed lap. I had a good wheel in front and was just fractionally wide on the bumps in Turn 16, had some chatter and just folded the front. Huge kudos to the guys because they turned the bike around in seven minutes and I was back out there to finish the session. I got one lap which was clean enough for P15, better than where we were and I appreciated getting out there, but it still really damaged our changes of a good result after a strong Friday. I made a good start from row five though unfortunately, I got sandwiched at Turn 1 with two riders and after T2 I was almost dead last. So step-by-step, just making good passes – my rhythm in the middle of the race was quite ok, but I struggled with some chatter at the end of the race. We have some good data and now’s the time for the crew to improve the bike, we have a lot of information so hopefully we can make a step for tomorrow. The key will be to do a good Superpole Race to put us in a better grid position for Race 2. P10 for all our work, it was a hard race and tough work coming through, but we have more experience now and we’ll go again tomorrow!”
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