Andrea Locatelli will remain with the Pata Yamaha team for the 2024 and 2025 WorldSBK Championship seasons, it has been confirmed.

Following on from the news that current team-mate Toprak Razgatlioglu will depart the Crescent Racing-run set-up in favour of a move to BMW for next season, Yamaha has moved to assure that Locatelli will be staying put for the next two years.

The Italian joined Yamaha in 2021 in the wake of his dominant charge to the WorldSSP Championship a year earlier.

Despite initially struggling to get to grips with the larger machinery, Locatelli has developed into a regular podium contender, form he has demonstrated during the 2023 season to date with five trips to the rostrum the year to sit third overall after four rounds.

"My objective was to continue with Yamaha, so I’m very happy to have signed for another two years," he said.

"One of the best things about Yamaha is the people who believe in me, starting with Eric de Seynes, Paolo Pavesio and Andrea Dosoli, but also Riccardo Tisci and all the engineers and technicians who work so hard to give me the best bike possible.

"The same is true of the team. Since I arrived in WorldSBK I have enjoyed incredible support from Paul Denning and Andrew Pitt, and everyone involved in the project.

“All together we have achieved some good results but, more importantly, we have walked side-by-side on a path that has allowed me to feel more and more confident,”

"We still have room for improvement in many areas, but I truly believe that with such a good relationship we will grow stronger together. If consistency is key as they say, then I think that with this extension, we’ve laid the groundwork for a bright future.”