Yamaha WorldSBK rider hoping to revive past form after rough 2026 start

The 2025 Dutch WorldSBK was a standout weekend in the course of the season for several reasons – among them being Andrea Locatelli’s first victory in the class.

Locatelli’s win had been several seasons in the making, having first made his move up to the class in 2021 after dominating the previous year’s World Supersport season.

The Italian required his compatriot, Nicolo Bulega, to retire from the lead with just a couple of laps to go due to a technical problem in order to take the victory, but on the other hand he was able to beat Bulega’s then-teammate Alvaro Bautista on the second factory Ducati straight up.

Locatelli would go on last year to fight for third in the championship, missing out to Bautista only at the very end of the season at the final round in Spain, taking a total of four podiums last year on his route to fourth in the final standings.

The start to the 2026 World Superbike season has been much more difficult for Locatelli, though, the Italian sitting 11th in the standings through two rounds with a best result of fifth in the wet Race 2 in Australia. In the dry, Locatelli’s best result so far this season has been ninth, that coming in Race 2 at Portimao.

After the poor start to the year, Locatelli is hoping he can revive his season in the same place he took his first win a year ago.

“How could we not remember Assen as one of the best weekends of my life,” he said ahead of the weekend in the Netherlands.

“To get the first victory in WorldSBK in 2025 was special, and for sure it’s an amazing track – flowing, fast, I love this type of circuit. This is a great memory, but, of course, we need to look forward to try to repeat again and to get good results. 

“I want to be realistic as the first two rounds of this season have not been easy and I need to find a better feeling to be faster, but for sure we are working hard to try to maximise our package. 

“The first thing will be to start well on Friday and push hard immediately, to take a good reference for the weekend and then we will see. I think the most important thing in this moment is to try to rediscover the same speed and feeling like in the past, because then I am sure the results will come. 

“The past results from Assen can give us some confidence to always believe in what we are capable of.”

Vierge: Assen “stands out as a strong circuit for Yamaha”

Locatelli’s new teammate for 2026, Xavi Vierge, has had a much better start to the year than Locatelli in terms of speed, at least.

Three non-scores in Australia and a crash-and-remount in Race 2 at Portimao leave the Spaniard down in 14th in the standings, but he has Yamaha’s best result of the year with his sixth in Race 1 at the second round.

Vierge is also optimistic about Assen, believing it to be “a really strong circuit for Yamaha”.

“We will arrive in Assen this week – and maybe there will be some pressure on our shoulders after saying this – but, it’s one of the races in the calendar that stands out as a really strong circuit for Yamaha,” he said.

“In the past, the team has had some amazing results here and my teammate Loka [Andrea Locatelli] has achieved podiums and victory last year, also Remy Gardner has been on the podium. 

“It is a track that fits the characteristics of the R1 very well, so I am super excited to start, especially after a solid weekend in Portimao. 

“It’s a track that also for my riding style I think is a good one, I’ve had many races here in WorldSBK but also in Moto2 in the past and I have good memories. 

“It will be my first time with this bike, but I will work to adapt as quickly as possible to be competitive and try to learn from my teammate. 

“I am looking forward to discovering how well this circuit suits the R1.”