Andrea Locatelli ponders victory chances after Portimao WorldSBK podium
Andrea Locatelli believes he has “a real chance” to repeat his Portimao WorldSBK podium result on Sunday.
An 18th career WorldSBK podium for Andrea Locatelli has left the Yamaha rider considering his chances at victory.
The Italian was Yamaha’s best rider in the season-opening Australian Round back in February, but the Ducati domination of that weekend meant he was nowhere near the podium.
In Race 1 at the second World Superbike round of the season in Portimao, Locatelli was able to climb onto the rostrum for the first time in 2025, holding off Barni Ducati’s Danilo Petrucci.
It was a result that Locatelli said he has to be “proud of”, having not been on the podium since the Superpole Race at Phillip Island last year, even if he was seven seconds off the win.
“I have to be happy because we’ve been working this weekend,” Locatelli said.
“The base setup of the bike is good. I’m struggling a bit with the front, so we need to keep working to improve and try to close the gap a little more.
“I need to be proud of myself because I never lost focus during this race. I was always ready in every condition and in every situation during this race.
“To finish on the podium confirms that we are competitive. I think we have a real chance to be back on the podium again and maybe we can even fight for our first victory.
“I won’t stop believing in that and I’ll keep working for it. We have two more chances tomorrow, so let’s go for it again.”
Alex joined the Crash.net team in August of 2024 having covered consumer and racing motorcycle news at Visordown for two years.
