RiderTua.com – Andrea Locatelli showed his good performance starting from the pre-season test and became the best Yamaha rider in the overall ranking. 2024 will be his 4th season in the World Superbike Championship. Phillip Island could be his best race to date in the series-based world championship.
After finishing in 2nd place in the first race and the superpole race, the Italian racer almost finished the second race with a podium. Previously, Locatelli had never won three podiums at once in one weekend.
Andrea Locatelli: The cause of the crash is not yet known for certain
After a superb comeback, Andrea Locatelli moved up to 3rd on lap 9 in a second race shortened to 11 laps, but it was clear he wanted more. In the final lap, the 2020 Supersport World Champion overtook Alex Lowes (Kawasaki) and then attacked Alvaro Bautista. When trying to overtake the Ducati racer, Locatelli experienced a highside. He denied allegations that he touched Bautista’s rear wheel.
The 27-year-old rider explained, “It was a good advantage, but there was no contact. We don’t know for sure the cause yet. It was the last braking phase and the gearbox went into neutral, so I had to take the wide lane into turn 4.”
“That’s the real problem. When I put the gear in, there was no grip and I was thrown off the bike. We need to analyze the data to understand the drop accurately. Of course it’s sad because we didn’t make a mistake and I feel fine. We fought for won,” added the Italian rider.
Jonathan Rea’s new teammate scored a total of 29 points and ranked 3rd in the World Championship. “I think we’ll forget about the competition and look forward. However we were very fast and were able to win, that’s what’s important. Of course the result is disappointing because we might have won. But things like that can happen. We can get injured, fall, another rider hits me or I make a mistake. That’s part of racing,” concluded Locatelli.
