Locatelli’s Top Four Return Backed Up by Strong Race 1 Pace for Rea in Estoril

Pata Maxus Yamaha’s riders Andrea Locatelli and Jonathan Rea both returned to the podium fight in Race 1 at Circuito Estoril, at the penultimate round of the 2025 FIM Superbike World Championship in Portugal today.

An incredibly close Superpole qualifying, with Rea starting from P6 on the grid and Locatelli P8, set the stage for the duo to launch straight into the fight for the final podium position at the start of Race 1 this afternoon.

Following the red-flagged race restart after an incident at Turn 1 involving riders from the back of the field, Locatelli got the better start of the two Pata Maxus Yamaha riders into Turn 1 but Rea repassed his teammate to put his stamp on fourth position for more than half-race distance.

The six-time WorldSBK Champion put relentless pressure on Alvaro Bautista until around Lap 13, until he struggled to get the bike stopped into Turn 1 and a drop in rear grip restricted his attack.

Where Rea dropped back to a final sixth place finish after a very strong ride, Locatelli built his pace and came through on Lap 15 to secure fourth position ahead of Alex Lowes, but was unable to close the gap to Bautista enough to make a challenge for third place.

Tomorrow’s new opportunities will start with a short 10-minute Warm Up at 9:00 local time, the Superpole Race at 11:00 and Race 2 at 14:00.

FULL SUPERPOLE RESULTS

FULL RACE 1 RESULTS

Andrea Locatelli – SP: P8 / Race 1: P4

“After a big fight we finished Race 1 in P4, it is a good result but the gap to the win is still quite far and I feel that we can improve a bit for tomorrow. We were a bit in trouble at the start of the race, I tried to stay there with the group – everyone was really closely matched – we saw the same also in Superpole this morning. But, we have to be happy with the work we have done so far this weekend. Starting from P8 on the grid was not so easy, but the second start after the red flag was really good. We are confident to find a solution for tomorrow to help manage the rear grip and the performance in the early part of the race, where Jonathan was very strong today. It was important to get good points and we have two more races tomorrow, so let’s see what we can do tonight – we will check the data to see more clearly where we can improve my R1, and maybe have the opportunity to fight for the podium.”

Jonathan Rea – SP: P6 / Race 1: P6

“In the beginning of the race, I felt really good! Alvaro was making some mistakes and I was able to be really clean in most of the corners and just lose out from the exit of the last corner to Turn 1. Sector 2 and then 3, I had it together and then I could almost take the slipstream, but in the middle of the race I had a big moment in Turn 1 where I really struggled to get the bike stopped and I overshot the corner – that allowed Alex and Loka to arrive and they passed me on the straight the next time around. But my bike in general was really good, and now we have 20 Laps under our belt. Starting from P6 “made my day” if you like! Got a good start, the Yamaha R1 really rips off the line and I was already in good track position – in the restart Loka came past me at Turn 1 but I was able to really get on the back of Alvaro and keep the pace in the first half of the race. We can try to improve for tomorrow – I felt in the last corner the turning wasn’t amazing after the grip dropped and mechanical traction is still something we need to focus on. Everywhere else the bike was really good, I was enjoying it and being in that battle for the top five was really nice.”