Locatelli claims best WorldSBK finish with P5 at Estoril
Former Moto2 and 2020 WorldSSP champion Andrea Locatelli claimed a season best to date WorldSBK finish of fifth place during race two at Estoril.
The promising signs are there for all to see, as the Belgian rookie finished race one in Portugal 27 seconds down on winner Scott Redding, but nearly halved that margin a day later - 14 seconds behind Jonathan Rea in similar conditions.
While Locatelli wasn’t able to make an impression on Alex Lowes during the final stages of the race, Locatelli was able to fend off pressure from the man he replaced in 2021, Michael Van Der Mark.
The 24 year-old had shown speed on occasion heading into last weekend but also a lack of consistency, something that couldn’t be said about his Estoril performances as he was regularly inside the top ten.
"I am very happy with this weekend, because in the end we have a really good result," added Locatelli.
“"Yesterday the first race was not easy, I made some mistakes during the first laps, I lost positions and the opportunity to have a better result – but, today we made a big improvement and with this I’m really happy.
"I now take some confidence with the bike and it’s just the second weekend. We are closer to the front, we are faster and we just need to try and learn a little bit more and also to try to take even more confidence with the set-up of my R1.
"We did a really good job overall, working really well with the team and I am very happy for this. We took P5 in Race 2 and this is a big result for me in just the second weekend!!
