Andrea Locatelli was given new parts to test during his one day of Winter Testing at Jerez after the season finale.
The end of the 2025 World Superbike season led straight into the start of the 2026 season as the riders were back on track at Jerez for a two-day test.
However, Yamaha only completed the first day of the test with the majority of their rookie riders, and their now veteran rider, Andrea Locatelli.
The Italian has been with the Pata Maxus Yamaha squad for five seasons and is heading into his sixth year with the team. During his day of testing, he focused on new parts and did not push for fast lap times like the rookie Yamaha riders.
"Day one of 2026 is already here in Jerez after the race weekend," Locatelli said after the opening day of the Jerez Test.
"We were trying a couple of new options to find a step forward on the bike – the condition of the track was quite different from the race, but we tried to make an improvement in the areas that we struggled with during the weekend.
"Looks like we found some quite positive things from this test, and now we have one month to relax a little bit and prepare again. Then, we will see what we can do and try to make another step!
"Overall, it was a good season in 2025, so we will keep pushing hard for the next one. I am happy to try some new stuff on the bike, to make an improvement. It will be important in November to understand more, find good solutions with the R1 and improve the base set-up, then prepare for next season in the best way."
Paul Denning, Team Principal – Pata Maxus Yamaha, added, "On Loka’s side, he has tested some new parts and picked up where we left off during the race weekend here in Jerez.
"We didn’t target a fast lap time; we needed to focus on getting through the test programme with Andrea, and some rain and drizzle this morning limited the running at the start of the day."