Roberto Garcia joins GMT94 Yamaha in WorldSSP as Michael Ruben Rinaldi returns to WorldSBK with MotoXRacing.
Roberto Garcia joins GMT94 Yamaha in WorldSSP as Michael Ruben Rinaldi returns to WorldSBK with MotoXRacing.Reigning European Moto2 Champion Roberto Garcia will join the GMT94 Yamaha team for the remainder of the 2025 FIM Supersport World Championship, with Michael Ruben Rinaldi returning to the FIM Superbike World Championship with Yamaha MotoXRacing.
Rinaldi joined forces with Yamaha in the World Supersport category for 2025 riding the all-new R9 for the GMT94 Yamaha team. However, despite a determined effort from both rider and team in this new endeavour, it has been a challenging first five rounds for the Italian.
Rinaldi and the GMT94 Yamaha Team have therefore mutually agreed to conclude their on-track relationship, with the Italian now set to return to the Superbike category, where he is five-times a race winner, with the Yamaha MotoXRacing team from Misano onwards.
Joining GMT94 Yamaha from Misano onwards will be 18-year-old Roberto Garcia, the reigning FIM European Moto2 Champion. The Spaniard has already undergone a test with the GMT94 Yamaha team and gelled quickly with the R9.
Niccolò Canepa – Road Racing Sporting Manager, Motorsport Division, Yamaha Motor Europe
“Five-times a WorldSBK race winner, Michael Rinaldi’s ability is unquestionable. For whatever reason, it hasn’t worked for him in WorldSSP this year despite huge effort from both Michael and the GMT94 Yamaha team. An opportunity has arisen for him to return to WorldSBK with Yamaha MotoxRacing, and this is a move which makes sense – so we wish both him and the team good luck with this. Joining the GMT94 Yamaha team will be Roberto Garcia, and exciting young Spanish rider we have had our eye on for a while. We has already undergone a shakedown test with the team and surprised us with his pace, so good luck to him and the GMT94 Yamaha team too!”
Michael Ruben Rinaldi
“I am extremely grateful to Christophe Guyot and the GMT94 Yamaha team for giving me the opportunity to join them to ride the new R9 this season. I gave it everything, and so did the team, but for whatever reason it did not come together for us. To get another chance to race in WorldSBK is an amazing opportunity for me, so I have to thank MotoXRacing and Yamaha for their belief in me, as well as Christophe and everyone at GMT94 – the support of this team has been unwavering and I must thank Andrew, Loick, Sébastien, Benoit and Flavien for their tireless work this season. I wish GMT94 and Roberto the best of luck for the rest of the season.”
Roberto Garcia
“This is an amazing opportunity for me to show my potential and to push at 120%! I am very happy to be part of the Yamaha family and the iconic GMT94 team. The goal is to grow race by race and achieve great results for the brand, my team and also me. I am looking forward to getting started, because I very much enjoyed riding the bike for the first time. I am super happy, motivated and very excited. Thank you to Yamaha and the GMT94 team for trusting me with this great opportunity.”
