Yamaha Motor Europe is delighted to announce its official line up for the 2019 FIM Superbike World Championship. The Pata Yamaha WorldSBK Team will once again lead the way as Yamaha’s reference team, but this year they’ll be joined on the grid by the GRT Yamaha Supported WorldSBK Team, who step up to the premier production class for the 2019 season.
2019 marks the fourth year for the partnership between Yamaha and Crescent Racing and both parties are keen to build on the success of the 2018 season, during which the Pata Yamaha WorldSBK riders, Michael van der Mark and Alex Lowes, secured three race wins and a total of 14 podium finishes between them. Van der Mark and Lowes remain with the team for the coming season, with both keen to add to their tally of wins as they look to challenge for the championship in 2019.
Having achieved everything possible in WorldSSP, including winning the World Championship crown in 2017, GRT Yamaha face a new challenge in 2019, as the team step up to contest the FIM Superbike World Championship for the first time. Former 250cc World Champion and WorldSBK race winner Marco Melandri is joined at GRT Yamaha by the reigning WorldSSP Champion Sandro Cortese, who swaps last year’s title-winning YZF-R6 for the race winning Yamaha YZF-R1 WorldSBK machine this season.
The Pata Yamaha and GRT Yamaha teams are currently testing in Europe, but in February both teams will head south of the equator to test and then race at the iconic Phillip Island Circuit in Australia, venue for the opening round of the 2019 FIM Superbike World Championship.
Andrea Dosoli
Yamaha Motor Europe Road Racing Manager