Both Andrea Locatelli and Jonathan Rea represented Pata Maxus Yamaha super strongly at the team’s home round in the UK today, for Round 7 of the 2025 FIM Superbike World Championship.
The team could ask nothing more of 28-year-old Italian rider Locatelli, whose outstanding performance across the weekend of P4, P5 and P4 was rewarded as his best Donington Park results since joining WorldSBK in 2021, despite finishing just shy of a podium in both Race 1 and Race 2.
Fans were treated to an epic teammate battle in the Superpole Race between the two Pata Maxus Yamaha riders. Rea was the stronger Yamaha R1 WorldSBK pilot in the opening laps – running as high as second place and sporting a striking yellow Joey Dunlop tribute helmet for the UK event – but it was Locatelli who got the best of the #65 rider into The Esses and defend the remainder of final sector.
In Race 2, Rea was unable to challenge Locatelli to a “do over” due to a vibration from the front brake, which will be fully investigated in due course, limiting his ability to push, but did the team proud to complete the full race distance and bring his machine home. “Loka” himself had a trouble-free run to finish fourth place and closer to the podium positions in the final race of the weekend.
Third in the championship is still on the table for Locatelli – he currently lies in fifth place with 188 points, trailing by 21. Pata Maxus Yamaha will shortly travel to an all-new venue for WorldSBK at Balaton Park Circuit in Hungary, from 25-27 July, before the mid-season break in August.
FULL SUPERPOLE RACE RESULTS
FULL RACE 2 RESULTS
Andrea Locatelli – SPRC: P5 / Race 2: P4
“Overall, it was a good weekend for us – we did a strong job also yesterday in Race 1, so I am happy with the weekend in general. In Race 2 I honestly think we brought home the maximum result we could achieve, we just need a small step in performance to get to the guys on the podium today. I enjoyed the races a lot, especially this morning in the Superpole Race it was good fun fighting with my teammate! In Race 2, I was keeping my lap time consistent, I was trying to follow the front group and in the end, we did a pretty good job. We need to keep looking forward, take all these positive things and bring home good points for the championship. Hungary next will be a new track and a new challenge for everyone, we will try to be fast from the beginning.”
Jonathan Rea – SPRC: P6 / Race 2: P15
“It’s just a shame to end the weekend the way we did – coming from where we were Friday afternoon, the team did an incredible job for us to have a really strong Saturday, and also this morning I was riding well in the Superpole Race – I had a great fight with Loka! But, in Race 2, I knew from the warm-up lap that I had a problem in the front of the bike as I felt a huge vibration when I applied the brake. I wasn’t quite sure, I thought it might go away when the calipers heated up or as the race went on – but it never went away and it was so difficult to stop, especially when the rear grip dropped from the mid-race distance. We won’t let that spoil the weekend too much because there were a lot of positives to take and when you have issues like this, there’s nothing you can do – so onwards and upwards! Thanks to the team for all their hard work, it was very hot for everybody. Now we don’t have to wait too long to go again in Balaton in a couple of weeks!”
Paul Denning – Team Principal, Pata Maxus Yamaha:
“Overall, it’s been a positive team performance at our home round at Donington Park – with Andrea scoring four-five-four results across the three races and keeping his fight for third place in the championship very much alive. Of course, winning and being on the podium is always the target, but we didn’t quite have the outright performance to achieve that – so when that’s the case, you have to maximise the package and Loka did that brilliantly in all three races. The team improved the bike for Sunday, meaning he was able to beat Petrucci – and stay a little bit closer to Toprak and the factory Ducati machines. Good job Loka, good job by the team, and we move on to pastures new in Hungary.
For JR, this weekend has been a massive step forward on the come-back trail from his nasty injury earlier in the year. A tough Friday was put firmly to bed by a stellar P4 qualifying run – his fastest-ever lap in his career around Donington Park – backed up superbly by P5 in Race 1 and fighting to the line with Loka in the Superpole Race. Unfortunately, we had an issue in the front brake system in Race 2 that created a harsh vibration, which will be diagnosed and investigated fully. We can only thank Jonathan for staying out on track and representing the team and our partners in a really tough situation – despite this, the upsides for JR this weekend are huge and we move on to Hungary with two competitive Pata Maxus Yamaha riders, both looking forward to the next races.”
