When Toprak departs Loca expansion
Hot on your heels Toprak Razgatlioglu announced his departure from Yamaha to join BMW, His current Yamaha teammate, Andrea Locatelli, has signed a contract to stay at Yamaha until the end of the 2025 season.
Andrea Locatelli
“My goal is to continue working with Yamaha, so I’m happy to sign a contract for another two years. One of the best things about Yamaha is the people who have always believed in me, starting with Eric de Seynes, Paolo Pavesio and Andrea Dosoli, as well as Riccardo Tisci and all the engineers and technicians who worked so hard to make it happen. give me the best bike possible. The same is true for teams. Since I came to WorldSBK, I have had great support from Paul Denning and Andrew Pitt, as well as everyone involved in the project. We’ve all achieved some good results together, but more importantly, we’ve been side by side on a path that makes me feel more and more confident. We still have room for improvement in many areas, but I truly believe that with such a good relationship, we will grow stronger together. If consistency is key as they say, then I think with this extension we have laid the foundation for a bright future.“
The 26-year-old man is currently third in the WorldSBK championship standings and a five-time podium finisher this season.
Locatelli first competed for Yamaha in 2020 when he switched from Moto2 to WorldSSP. An incredible first season has seen Bergamasco dominate, winning 12 of the 14 races en route to being crowned FIM Supersport World Champion, with a record of 333 points broken.
Locatelli’s reward is promotion to WorldSBK in 2021, where he quickly made his mark on the official Pata Yamaha WorldSBK Team. “Loka” finished in an impressive fourth place in the championship during his rookie season, during which he also played a key role in winning the World Championship as well. of Teams and Producers.
A tougher but more consistent second season in 2022 has seen Loka drop one place to fifth in the championship, but the Italian is on the field fighting in 2023. Standing on the podium in every four rounds so far this season sees him currently third in the standings with a 33-point advantage over fourth-placed Jonathan Rea.
Andrea Dosoli – Race Director, Yamaha Motor Europe
“Our journey with Andrea began in 2020 when he dominated WorldSSP on our R6, but his performance in 2021 when we moved him to WorldSBK was equally impressive, concluding. finished season four and was rookie of the year. We’ve seen Andrea mature as a racer, continuously improving to the point where he’s now one of the strongest in the series. He showed himself capable of making informed technical decisions during testing, while his determination in the short races matched his intelligent management of the race. longer feature races. These are all good signs and this is what convinced us that, together, we can go further and ensure even better results in the future. On behalf of Yamaha, as well as for me personally, I would like to thank Andrea for the trust he has placed in us..”
