The 2021 ‘ rookie of the year ’ in WorldSBK is unquestionably Andrea Locatelli . And we say this with two full rounds still to go . Not many rookies go straight into a factory ride but Locatelli was not placed on an R1 machine inside the GRT Yamaha squad , like the impressive Garrett Gerloff the season before . He went straight into factory rider world in the Pata Yamaha with Brixx squad . We now dive into the what makes this particular boy from Bergamo tick , as his first WorldSBK season times down .
EXCITING CONTENT
At the end of 2019 Andrea Locatelli had realised his MotoGP™ ambitions were not going in the right direction . A change was coming . That change was to compete in the WorldSSP Championship , in another paddock entirely . For most people , like Andrea , who had been brought up inside MotoGP™ , this idea can often have little appeal . The GP in MotoGP™ stands for Grand Prix ‘ big prize .’ So going to fight for the next biggest prizes … Conversely a Moto2 rider going into WorldSSP in recent years has been - moreor-less - the way to be successful in the middleweight production racing class . Even right from the start . Sandro Cortese and Randy Krummenacher were the two most recent World Champions , and both were MotoGP™ ‘ converts ’ who went on to win in Supersport but have less fortune in the transition to WorldSBK . Locatelli , in the reigning champion Evan Bros Yamaha squad , just ran amok in 2020 with his ability to dominate , winning nine in a row and 13 out of 15 overall . The next best rider wasn ’ t within 100 points of Loka at the end . WorldSBK was the only step to take when you have been that convincing a champion . For the first couple of races in 2021 Locatelli - Loka to his fans and friends - was doing OK , learning , nothing special . Fifth in Estoril was the highpoint . Then , round five , Assen . A podium that was taken away for a track limits infraction , then a real one the final Assen race . A third place again in the first race at Most . And another at Magny-Cours . He just beat Jonathan Rea into fifth place at Jerez . Add all the results up and although Loka is still waiting on that first win in WorldSBK but he is equal fourth overall , with the only four riders above him being the riders to have won the races this year . There were a few rookie riders in 2021 , but Loka has been the most consistently effective and measurably successful . So why him ? What makes him special as a racer , and turned him into the best rookie in his first year of WorldSBK . He has to go way back to find the answer . “ I think during my career I got really good results because I won the Italian championship in Moto3 ,” said Loka , who completed that feat in 2013 , having been NSF250R national trophy winner the year before . “ I made the first podium with the ( Moto3 ) Leopard team before Joan Mir and Fabio Quartararo . Maybe my quality is not so bad , I think … But , during my career - now I speak about Moto3 and Moto2 - maybe I don ’ t find a good solution for me . Maybe I work with a person , but the feeling with this person is not so nice to work very well . Also , Moto2 and Moto3 is a different paddock . It ’ s a little bit more stressed . I don ’ t know why , but it is a different paddock .” Loka expands on that theme . “ Here , when I arrive here , for sure , I start with the best team in World Supersport , but in the end I think the good solution for me is the people in this paddock . They are like a friend , like a normal person , and for me is the best solution for my mind , for my body , for everything . Now I am really happy because I think my quality has been let out . Maybe in Moto2 and
Moto3 I did not have a good solution . I ’ m not in a good group . I had a good experience during the Moto2 and Moto3 , but maybe … I don ’ t know why if it is because I am Italian , or maybe because I am not living in Romagna ( the place in Italy most racers come from ), but I ’ m living in Bergamo . I am a little bit outside with the respect to the world of 46 ( Valentino Rossi ’ s rider development programme .) I don ’ t know what is the real story . But for me it is not easy and maybe - OK I am Italian - but we have more Italian riders and the people maybe don ’ t consider me . “ This is not my opinion ,” clarified Locatelli , “ but maybe this is the real story . Maybe this is the problem ,” said Andrea as we spoke inside the rider cabin of his team truck . “ For sure , I tried to get much more results also in Moto2 and Moto3 . Maybe I ’ m a little bit unlucky and in the end I broke some part of me , and I lose the possibility to get good results during Moto2 also . But in the end , when I arrive here , for me it ’ s completely different . Also this team ,
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