Locatelli Closes Out “Home Race” with Solid Seventh in Race 2 in Misano for Pata Maxus Yamaha

Pata Maxus Yamaha’s Andrea Locatelli fought hard to enjoy and make the most of Sunday’s two races in Round 7 of the 2026 FIM Superbike World Championship in front of his home crowd at Misano World Circuit in Italy.

In both the Superpole Race and Race 2 this afternoon, “Loka” made excellent starts to run inside the top five on the opening laps – really fighting for position before settling into race pace. This early aggression helped him in the hot conditions to finish eighth place in the 10-Lap sprint, and finally to take seventh in the final feature race today. Qualifying in P8 on Saturday set up the #55 well through the weekend, giving him the opportunity to start each race strongly.

Teammate Xavi Vierge was not able to show the potential and performances that both he and the team know he is capable of, leaving on Sunday just 11th place to show from Race 2 after a disappointing crash in the Superpole Race.

Beatriz Neila (Ampito Crescent Yamaha) fought to the very last corner for the win in Race 2 of the FIM Women’s Circuit Racing World Championship today – despite losing out on the victory by just 0.075s, it was her 22nd-straight podium in the class and a further new record. Teammate Chloe Jones looked to build on her first podium of the season from yesterday, but was hampered by a penalty and crossed the line in 10th place for Monster Energy Crescent Yamaha.

The Pata Maxus Yamaha riders will join a special event this coming week, the Yamaha Racing Experience at Misano World Circuit – before Locatelli travels to Japan for the Suzuka 8 Hours as part of the Yamaha Factory Racing Team alongside MotoGP’s Jack Miller and Japanese legend Katsuyuki Nakasuga.

Andrea Locatelli – SPRC: P8 / Race 2: P7

“Let’s say a “solid weekend” with a good qualifying, a good Race 1, two quite positive races today on Sunday – for sure not the final results that we want, I tried to give my all but we know that it’s not easy. Difficult, but I want to be proud about what I managed to do this weekend – we worked well to match the bike to have a good base set-up. Overall, thank you to all the guys, to the team and Yamaha who are working hard. We believe always in our potential and try to give the maximum. To be closer to the top five and ultimately start to close the gap to the podium is something we need to keep in mind and look to try to find something more to try and be a bit faster from now until the end of the season. Thanks also to all the fans who came to Misano, it’s always a special race for me as a “home race”. Now we can rest a little bit and enjoy the Yamaha Racing Experience next week here in Misano and then aim for another strong race for me in Suzuka – where I am proud to be part of the Yamaha Factory Racing Team again. Keep pushing and then let’s see what we can achieve when we return to Donington Park next month.”

Xavi Vierge – SPRC: DNF / Race 2: P11

“So, first thing I want to say is thanks so much to the team because after the Superpole Race crash this morning, they worked so hard to give me a perfect bike again in Race 2. I tried my best, starting again from P14, I made a good start but then one rider put me out of the track and I lost all the positions I gained. From there, I tried to come back as much as possible, but it was not possible to go much more forward. I lost the front grip on the right side in the last 5-6 laps and I couldn’t continue to fight to be in the top 10. It is clear that again it has been a difficult weekend and we struggled more than expected, but I think the key point for us is to make a good qualifying – if we are able to start better, the races will be much better on track position and we can use a lot more the potential in our bike. For the next few races, we need to focus a lot on Superpole to do it well.”

Paul Denning – Team Principal, Pata Maxus Yamaha:

“Andrea now lives only 30 minutes from the Misano World Circuit, so it’s very much a home race for him – and if we consider the tough start to the season so far, it was a positive “reset” with a strong performance in qualifying and three hard-fought, consistent races. P7, P8 and P7 across the three races is a good building block for the rest of the season and there’s definitely still more to come from the package, from the team and from Loka himself as his confidence rebuilds. For Xavi, it was a tough weekend – he’s making so much effort and works so professionally, every person in the project wants to see him maximise his potential, which is clearly much higher than the results in this Misano weekend. We have some time to breathe, analyse everything and reset for the team’s home race at Donington Park in a few weeks’ time.”