WSBK: The dominance of Andrea Locatelli in 2020
Andrea Locatelli has taken the World Supersport championship by storm this season winning 100% of the races he has entered this season.
Ex-Moto2 and Moto3 rider Andrea Locatelli has wiped the floor with his competition in World Supersport this season, winning 9 races out of 9, not putting a foot wrong… as a rookie! The closest rider to him is Jules Cluzel who has 6 2nd places and 1 3rd placed finish along with a P6 and a DNF.
In the Moto2 and Moto3 championships he struggled a lot, he took 2 Moto3 podiums on the Leopard KTM in 2016 but in his Moto2 career he spent most of his time outside of the top 10 his best result was a P6 at Assen in 2019, he scored just 6 top 10 finishes in 3 seasons and 55 starts.
So why can Locatelli who struggled in Moto2 move to the World Supersport championship and absolutely dominate? It is mainly due to the bike set up, in Moto2 the chassis are a lot stiffer and the bikes are generally harder to ride, whereas the Yamaha YZF-R6 is a lot more flexible, giving Locatelli more feeling when he rides and allowing him to clear off at the front.
This feeling on the bike can make it 100% better for the rider as proven by Locatelli who looks to continue this form.
If Locatelli can win all 15 races with no DNF’s, keeping in mind that there are only 6 races left, he will be the first rider in the World SBK and MotoGP championships to do so since the 1970 season with Giacomo Agostini who won the 350cc and 500cc titles completely unbeaten.
It remains to be seen what is to come however the next two races are at Catalunya, a track Locatelli knows but the Supersport field do not.
Featured image – www.worldsbk.com
