With the summer break complete, Pata Prometeon Yamaha are ready to return to the track with Jonathan Rea and Andrea Locatelli for Round 8 of the FIM Superbike World Championship this weekend at Magny-Cours in France, from 6-8 September – the first of three WorldSBK race events throughout September.

The 4.411km circuit has been a happy hunting ground for Pata Prometeon Yamaha and its riders in the past – the site of a number of double podiums, victories and celebrations. With its multitude of direction changes and heavy braking zones, the sweet-handling Yamaha R1 WorldSBK has been in the fray with many thrilling battles in front of the French fans.
Rea has been a central character in many of these battles, and following the Northern Irishman’s confident fightbacks in Portimão last month, both he and the team hope to be a main protagonist once again. Likewise, Locatelli is also looking for a resurgent return after the summer to be back in the fight for the podium places.
While Magny-Cours is not a new circuit for #55 Crew Chief Tom O’Kane, it has been a long time since the highly-experienced engineer has visited the Nevers venue – bringing fresh eyes and perspective to the Yamaha R1 WorldSBK set-up.

“Two main things stand out about the track,” he explains. “The first is the number of direction changes – from Turn 2 to Turn 3 is a high-speed change where you need a bike that is agile for the rider to control. Then in addition you have Turns 6-7, 8-9, 11-12 and finally 16-17, so these direction changes are the main characteristic that you need to balance in the set-up.”
“The second to consider is that the riders are down to first gear three times across the lap and in particular, for Turn 5 the rider must brake all the way down from the top of the gearbox. The key is to provide stability under braking. At Turn 15, it is a similar story from fifth gear down to first. Finally, Turn 3 has a different challenge with acceleration through and out of the high-speed corner – so the bike also needs to be able to turn well with the throttle open.”
The first chance to turn a wheel in any direction will be Friday morning as WorldSBK returns to its normal daily schedule with Free Practice 1 beginning at 10:20 and Free Practice 2 at 15:00, both 45-minutes long.

Andrea Locatelli “It is good to be back on track this week! September will be busy because we have three races, but for me it is also good point because I can ride my R1 more and keep the feeling and confidence high. Last year, it was not too bad for us – not the best results, but close to the podium in Race 2. I believe that if we can finalise and adjust our set-up to bring back my confidence after Portimão – to return to a good feeling like Most, then for sure we have the opportunity to do well. We know that our competitors are always pushing, but we have also been faster everywhere this year and had some podiums. If we can continue like this, and take another step, then we can look forward to being back on the podium again. Let’s see what happens, but I want to start strong, get the maximum result that we can and finish the season in the best way that we can!”

Jonathan Rea “Magny-Cours is a circuit that I really look forward to going to – I have some amazing memories from there in the past. The track has a bit of everything! It’s got fast and flowing sectors, stop and go sectors and it’s somewhere where you really need to get the best out of your machine. In the last couple of races we’ve been able to understand how to extract the performance out of the Yamaha R1 WorldSBK for my style – we’ve been very competitive at the end of races and our tyre consumption has been good. The next thing I want to focus on is my one-lap time attack pace, because qualifying has proven very important in WorldSBK this season. Looking forward to the weekend, last year we had a really hot weekend but with Magny-Cours you never know! So, we will keep one eye on the weather and after these weeks off, I’m looking forward to seeing the guys and making a plan together, and to start what is going to be a very busy and intense part of the season!”