Yamaha will make its official return to the World Superbike Championship in 2016 in collaboration with Crescent Racing and title sponsors PATA. The team will place the new YZF-R1 in the hands of 2014 World Superbike Champion Sylvain Guintoli and 2013 British Superbike Champion Alex Lowes. The goal of Yamaha is clear: to make full use of the all-new YZF-R1 to challenge for victory in the premier production Superbike series.
Yamaha returns to WSBK
2009 saw Yamaha take their first World Superbike Championship title, breaking multiple records throughout the season with American rider Ben Spies on board. Iconic riders such as Noriyuki Haga, Troy Corser, James Toseland, Marco Melandri and Cal Crutchlow, among others, have all taken their turns delivering countless victories on the YZF-R1 throughout Yamaha’s Superbike career.
Crescent will partner Yamaha as their fully-supported Official WSBK Team from 2016. Crescent is the World Superbike Championship’s only UK-based team and has a 20-year racing history at both national and global level that features victories in the British Superbike Championship, World Superbike and MotoGP.
Yamaha’s confidence comes from the successful debut of the new R1 this year. The new bike already has numerous victories, including the inaugural Road America AMA Championship and the legendary Suzuka 8Hr Endurance race in the hands of MotoGP stars Pol Espargaro, Bradley Smith and five-time All Japan Superbike Champion Katsuyuki Nakasuga. In the UK the R1 is in contention for the British Superbike Championship title, while across Europe the story continues with both the Polish Superbike Championship and the French Superstock Championship secured. Yamaha also currently leads the Spanish FIM CEV Repsol International Championship and last weekend claimed second overall in the FIM Endurance World Championship in the hands of France’s GMT94 Yamaha team.
See this Smoke Euro LED Flush Mount Turn Signal for YAMAHA YZF R1 R6 R6S 2006 2007 2008
“This is a very exciting moment for us as we eagerly wait to return to the top level of Superbike competition next year after an absence of four years,” commented Yamaha Motor Europe Chief Operating Officer, Eric De Seynes.
“Having re-written the Supersport rule book and changed the game with the new YZF-R1, directly developed from Yamaha MotoGP technology, it was clear we would need to return to the World Superbike Championship to show the full potential of our new Superbike machine. We took one year to grow experience with the new R1 in many other championships where the bike has shown its potential already, with the amazing 8H of Suzuka victory and the very positive results that our official Teams are gathering all around Europe. Now we are ready to be back on the world stage and I am happy we have found in Crescent the same values of professionalism, engineering detail and passion for victory we share.”
Source: Yamaha Motor Europe
