Yamaha ace Andrea Locatelli shifts his focus: Estoril with an eye on 2027

For Yamaha, the overall standings in the 2026 Superbike World Championship are sobering. In eleventh place and with just one top-five finish, Andrea Locatelli is the best-placed Yamaha rider after ten of twelve race weekends, followed two places behind by his Pata Maxus team-mate Xavier Vierge. Remy Gardner and Stefano Manzi from the Giansanti Racing junior team are ranked as low as 17th and 18th respectively.

With a strong season finale, Locatelli could still finish the season in the top 10, provided he scores ten more points than Álvaro Bautista (Ducati) at Estoril and Jerez – no easy task! Nevertheless, that is the aim of the 29-year-old, who also has one eye already on 2027.

“We’re approaching the final races, and I’m already quite excited. We’re continuing to work on finding that final bit of confidence on the bike, giving it our all whilst also looking to the future to prepare for the winter tests and the year 2027,” said Locatelli ahead of the upcoming event in Portugal. “I’m really looking forward to finishing the season as well as possible – we have fond memories of Estoril, and we know we can become even stronger if we keep working hard.”

The Yamaha R1’s base design dates back to 2015, but that’s only half the story. The Kawasaki ZX-10RR actually traces its origins back to 2009, and yet lone rider Garrett Gerloff regularly finishes in the top eight.

His Spanish team-mate can approach the final two rounds with even greater freedom – they are his last as a Yamaha works rider. Vierge has signed for the Ducati customer team Barni Racing for the coming season.

Topic of the week

A stuttering start to the Bahrain Grand Prix: the FIA narrowly avoids a fiasco like the one in Indianapolis in 2005

Fans could hardly believe their eyes at what they witnessed at the Bahrain Grand Prix: cars crawling along, racing cars that simply came to a standstill. The FIA narrowly avoided a fiasco like the one at Indy in 2005.

Mathias Brunner

Read More

TV Program

Live

Estoril: 1. Freies Training

FIM Superbike World Championship

09.10.2026 - 11:15

“We’ve now reached the final two races of the season, and Estoril is a circuit I really enjoy,” said the Catalan. “I’ve always been competitive there, and Yamaha had a very strong weekend there last year. That’s why I’m looking forward to getting started, rediscovering my feel for the bike, working with my team and fighting for good results.”