WorldSBK Assen: Locatelli ‘got a little bit lucky, we need more’

Pata Yamaha’s Andrea Locatelli secured his first WorldSBK podium of 2022 at the TT Circuit Assen on Sunday afternoon.

After Rea and Razgatlioglu were out of the second Dutch race in now infamous style, nobody was going to take the win away from Alvaro Bautista, barring disasters for the small Spaniard with the big talent and the factory Ducati.

But the podium scrap between Andrea Locatelli and Iker Lecuona was eventually Locatelli’s, his first of the year on the site of his first ever in 2021. Officially his first, of course, because he had been third in an earlier Assen race in 2021, until demoted for touching the green of the trackside limits paint.

It would have taken a green paint incident in the final race of Assen 2022 for Bautista to promote ‘Loka’ to the win but he was still happy enough with his second place finish.

There was some lucky Loka going on, as the rider from Bergamo was first to admit. “We got a little bit lucky because Johnny and Toprak were out of the race,” said the 2020 WorldSSP Champion and last year’s Top Rookie. “So, for sure, it’s a podium but a bit different. In the end, I’m happy about the weekend because we finished yesterday, and this morning, P4. For sure, now we are strong.

“We need to learn a little bit more. We need to try to improve to try to stay with the front guys. We need to improve from the first lap until the last lap. We have a lot of work to do with my bike, with the electronics, with everything. Every weekend and every race for sure we try to improve and to learn something about Toprak and Johnny because they are world champion guys, so it’s important to learn.

“In the end, for me it’s a good result. Is another podium on the second weekend of the season. So, we need to