Yamaha Motor Europe is delighted to announce that it will retain Kohta Nozane for a second season in the FIM Superbike World Championship, with his contract extension running until the end of the 2022 campaign.

The Yamaha Moto Co. has supported Nozane throughout his career, and after winning the JSB1000 All-Japan Championship title in 2020, the promising Japanese talent joined the WorldSBK grid with Yamaha in 2021.

Despite having no experience of the circuits, the Pirelli tyres and the WorldSBK-spec Yamaha R1, Nozane was shown impressive progression throughout his maiden season. The 25-year-old scored a top 10 finish in his debut weekend at Aragón, while he especially impressed in Spain, at the Barcelona round.

With two rounds remaining, at the Circuito San Juan Villicum, Argentina, and the all-new Mandalika International Street Circuit in Indonesia, Nozane is the third highest-placed rookie in the standings and sits fifth in the Independent Riders’ championship.

Andrea Dosoli
Yamaha Motor Europe Road Racing Manager
“Kohta has shown some really great progress throughout his first season in the WorldSBK championship. It is not easy to adapt to the new circuits, ones that most of the grid are familiar with, new tyres and a different bike to what he was used to. Despite this, we’ve been impressed with the way in which he has improved, and he showed some promising performances in recent races. Next year, we are confident Kohta will be able to achieve the next level, fighting regularly in the top 10 like he has shown he can do in some races this year. So we’re very happy to have him on board with us for another season.”

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