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Andrea Locatelli’s WorldSBK improvement helps team-mate beat him
Xavi Vierge says he benefitted from Andrea Locatelli, who he beat, being more competitive at the Dutch WorldSBK.
Xavi Vierge took three top-10 finishes at the Dutch Round and matched his and Yamaha’s best dry weather result of the season in sixth place as he once again out-paced his team-mate Andrea Locatelli.
Vierge has largely been faster than Locatelli in dry conditions this year, which is his first on the Yamaha since moving in the off-season from Honda’s factory World Superbike team, but his inexperience on the YZF-R1 means there is still much for him to learn about the bike.
Locatelli himself was more competitive at the Dutch Round, finishing all three races in the top-10, and Vierge says he was able to pick up some things from his teammate as a result, before beating him in both Sunday races.
“Since the beginning, I find a good bike for me, I had good feelings and I was quite fast,” Xavi Vierge told WorldSBK.com after Race 2 at Assen.
“This is one of the strongest circuits for Andrea [Locatelli], he started to recover a little bit what he lost during the winter and we see him this weekend that has been so fast.
“Of course, this is helping me also because I can learn from him.
“I hope that we will stay like this.”
Vierge’s Sunday races were much better than Saturday’s Race 1, the Spaniard understanding better by Sunday how to manage the front tyre.
“[On Saturday] we struggled a lot during the race: I made a very bad start and I tried to fight hard to come back, but during that I destroyed my front tyre,” Vierge explained.
“So, [on Sunday] I learnt from that, we worked a lot on the practice starts and making a good start made our race much more easy. I feel like I can ride and use my strong points with that bike to go fast.
“Of course, still a gap with the front guys that we are working to close, but it’s been solid and it’s just our third race together, so plenty to improve [in the future].”
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Xavi Vierge says he benefitted from Andrea Locatelli, who he beat, being more competitive at the Dutch WorldSBK.
Xavi Vierge took three top-10 finishes at the Dutch Round and matched his and Yamaha’s best dry weather result of the season in sixth place as he once again out-paced his team-mate Andrea Locatelli.
Vierge has largely been faster than Locatelli in dry conditions this year, which is his first on the Yamaha since moving in the off-season from Honda’s factory World Superbike team, but his inexperience on the YZF-R1 means there is still much for him to learn about the bike.
Locatelli himself was more competitive at the Dutch Round, finishing all three races in the top-10, and Vierge says he was able to pick up some things from his teammate as a result, before beating him in both Sunday races.
“Since the beginning, I find a good bike for me, I had good feelings and I was quite fast,” Xavi Vierge told WorldSBK.com after Race 2 at Assen.
“This is one of the strongest circuits for Andrea [Locatelli], he started to recover a little bit what he lost during the winter and we see him this weekend that has been so fast.
“Of course, this is helping me also because I can learn from him.
“I hope that we will stay like this.”
Vierge’s Sunday races were much better than Saturday’s Race 1, the Spaniard understanding better by Sunday how to manage the front tyre.
“[On Saturday] we struggled a lot during the race: I made a very bad start and I tried to fight hard to come back, but during that I destroyed my front tyre,” Vierge explained.
“So, [on Sunday] I learnt from that, we worked a lot on the practice starts and making a good start made our race much more easy. I feel like I can ride and use my strong points with that bike to go fast.
“Of course, still a gap with the front guys that we are working to close, but it’s been solid and it’s just our third race together, so plenty to improve [in the future].”
Xavi Vierge took three top-10 finishes at the Dutch Round and matched his and Yamaha’s best dry weather result of the season in sixth place as he once again out-paced his team-mate Andrea Locatelli.
Vierge has largely been faster than Locatelli in dry conditions this year, which is his first on the Yamaha since moving in the off-season from Honda’s factory World Superbike team, but his inexperience on the YZF-R1 means there is still much for him to learn about the bike.
Locatelli himself was more competitive at the Dutch Round, finishing all three races in the top-10, and Vierge says he was able to pick up some things from his teammate as a result, before beating him in both Sunday races.
“Since the beginning, I find a good bike for me, I had good feelings and I was quite fast,” Xavi Vierge told WorldSBK.com after Race 2 at Assen.
“This is one of the strongest circuits for Andrea [Locatelli], he started to recover a little bit what he lost during the winter and we see him this weekend that has been so fast.
“Of course, this is helping me also because I can learn from him.
“I hope that we will stay like this.”
Vierge’s Sunday races were much better than Saturday’s Race 1, the Spaniard understanding better by Sunday how to manage the front tyre.
“[On Saturday] we struggled a lot during the race: I made a very bad start and I tried to fight hard to come back, but during that I destroyed my front tyre,” Vierge explained.
“So, [on Sunday] I learnt from that, we worked a lot on the practice starts and making a good start made our race much more easy. I feel like I can ride and use my strong points with that bike to go fast.
“Of course, still a gap with the front guys that we are working to close, but it’s been solid and it’s just our third race together, so plenty to improve [in the future].”
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