Stefano Manzi to Step Up to WorldSBK with GYTR GRT Yamaha in 2026

Current WorldSSP Stefano Manzi points leader signs a two-year deal to join the GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team, completing the 2026 line-up alongside Remy Gardner.

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Supersport World Championship leader Stefano Manzi will step up to the FIM Superbike World Championship in 2026 with the GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team. The Italian rider, who is currently in his third season with Yamaha in the FIM Supersport World Championship, has signed a new two-year contract with Yamaha Motor Europe that will see him make the move into the premier class of production racing.

Twice a runner-up in WorldSSP with Yamaha in 2023 and 2024, Manzi currently leads the 2025 championship by 59 points after a dominant double victory in Hungary this past weekend. Nine-times a World Supersport race winner on the R6, the 26-year-old impressed this season by adapting quickly to Yamaha’s all-new R9, winning the bike’s debut race in Australia and collecting six further victories to date.

Earlier this year, Manzi tested the Yamaha R1 WorldSBK machine for the first time at Misano, where he impressed the team with his steady progress and consistent lap times. His arrival completes the 2026 rider line-up for the GYTR GRT Yamaha Team, joining Remy Gardner who remains with Filippo Conti’s squad for a fourth consecutive season.

Niccolò Canepa, Road Racing Sporting Manager, Yamaha Motor Europe, praised Manzi’s progression: “Firstly, I would like to extend our thanks to Dominique Aegerter for his hard work and commitment, not only over the last three seasons in WorldSBK but prior to that too. He won two World Championships with Yamaha in Supersport before stepping up to WorldSBK in 2023. While our journey together in WorldSBK comes to an end, we are, together with his management, exploring the possibility to keep him in the Yamaha family moving forwards.

“Now is the time to promote another potential Supersport World Champion to the Superbike class, and we are pleased to announce that Stefano Manzi will move to WorldSBK with GYTR GRT Yamaha next year, again an example of Yamaha’s step-up philosophy, promoting the young talent already within our ranks. Over his three years in World Supersport with Yamaha, Stefano has made huge progress and we have been impressed by his approach which has ultimately put him in the position he is in now, leading the Supersport World Championship by 59 points. He also impressed us as he made his debut on the R1 at the recent Misano test, so for us he was a natural choice for a WorldSBK ride and hopefully he will be making that step as a World Champion.”

Stefano Manzi expressed his excitement for the opportunity: “I am super happy and proud; this is a step that you dream of when you are riding in the smaller classes – you always want to be in the top class. I am excited to continue with this project with Yamaha because I started with Yamaha in 2023 and every year we have battled hard and achieved some great results with progress each season. This year, we started a new project with the R9 and it has been going so well, so to continue my relationship with Yamaha with another new challenge is really exciting. I enjoyed riding the Superbike earlier this year, and I am really looking forward to getting started but for now, my focus remains on doing the best job for the Pata Yamaha Ten Kate Racing team in World Supersport until the end of the season.”