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Locatelli to compete as wildcard in season-opening CIV weekend

Tuesday, 30 June 2020 12:35 GMT

Andrea Locatelli will race at Mugello as a wildcard with BARDAHL Evan Bros. WorldSSP Team for the opening round of the 2020 CIV season

As teams and riders gear up for a return to track action with FIM Supersport World Championship scheduled to resume racing in July, WorldSSP Championship leader Andrea Locatelli will get more preparation under his belt with a wildcard appearance in the CIV championship at Mugello.

The Italian rider will compete on his WorldSSP-spec Yamaha YZF-R6 from July 3-5, meaning he will not be eligible to score championship points. The weekend will feature two races; giving Locatelli the chance to go back racing again before WorldSSP resumes at the end of July with the new two-race format.

23-year-old Locatelli said: "I am very excited that this will be our first post-quarantine race weekend and the fact that we are racing at Mugello makes it even more interesting. Racing on this track for the first time with Yamaha will be really exciting: apart from that, it will be an opportunity to continue the work done during the test day at Misano, using all the time available to us.

“There are some aspects to be clarified as far as the setup is concerned, and I am sure that this weekend we will have some answers to our questions. Going back to CIV will be strange, it will be a bit like going back to school for a day: unfortunately, there won't be an audience, but it will still be a great experience".

BARDAHL Evan Bros. WorldSSP Team last appeared in CIV in 2015 as a wildcard while Locatelli has good memories of racing in CIV; he won the 2013 CIV Moto3 title. For the team, it will be the first chance to get back to the pressures and time constraints of a race weekend since the Yamaha Finance Australian Round that opened the season.

Fabio Evangelista (Team Principal) said: "We decided to use the bike in WorldSSP configuration because this choice is in line with our aim, which is to do a three-day test in order to prepare for the second race of the season at Jerez. As a team we haven't raced at Mugello for many years and certainly coming back to this track will be useful in any case. I would like to thank the FMI for the invitation, it will be an honour to race again in the CIV".

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