From scoreless seasons to dominating the world stage
In short: Andrea Locatelli's path to the top of the motorcycle racing world was anything but a straight line. Before becoming a champion, he endured years of struggle, including full seasons where he failed to score a single point. His journey serves as a masterclass in persistence within high-stakes sport.
Born in Alzano Lombardo in 1996, Andrea Locatelli began his competitive journey with early success, winning the Italian Honda NSF250R Trophy in 2012 and the CIV Moto3 Championship in 2013. However, his transition to the global stage was initially fraught with difficulty. During his 2013 Moto3 World Championship appearances as a wild-card, he failed to score any points, finishing 22nd and 25th. This trend continued into 2014 when he took a full-time ride with Mahindra's San Carlo Team Italia; despite the opportunity, Locatelli did not score a single point the entire season, while his teammate earned 12.
The turning point arrived in 2015 with Gresini Racing, where Locatelli finally secured his first points, totaling 33. His progression continued in 2016 with Leopard Racing, where he achieved a career-best Moto3 finish of ninth in the standings with 96 points, including two second-place podiums. However, moving up to the Moto2 class in 2017 presented a new set of hurdles. For three consecutive seasons from 2017 to 2019, Locatelli was outperformed by his teammate at the Italtrans team, finishing with a mere eight points in 2017 and 52 points in 2018. By the end of 2019, his struggle in Moto2 led to his non-renewal by the team.
Locatelli's career reached a dramatic peak in 2020 when he joined Yamaha in the Supersport class. In a dominant rookie season on the Yamaha YZF-R6, he won 12 out of 15 races, including the first nine of the year. He secured 13 podiums and beat second-place Lucas Mahias by a massive 104 points to become the 2020 Supersport world champion. He then moved into the Superbike World Championship in 2021, where he continued his consistency by securing four third-place podium finishes.
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- Summary by Intellect · source: Andrea Locatelli (motorcyclist)
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