Yamaha Motor Europe Presents 2025 WorldSBK Line-Up as Anticipation Builds for Phillip Island Opener.
Yamaha Motor Europe has presented its rider line-up for the 2025 FIM Superbike World Championship as anticipation builds for the season opener at the iconic Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit, Australia next month.
An unchanged rider line-up for both the fresh look Pata Maxus Yamaha WorldSBK Official Team and GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team again sees four world champions set to take on the 2025 campaign aboard the Yamaha R1.
2025 marks the tenth year of collaboration between Pata Snack, Yamaha Motor Europe and the Crescent Yamaha team on the WorldSBK project, which has seen a multitude of success over the past decade including victory in the 2021 rider, team and manufacturer championships.
Six-time world champion Jonathan Rea returns for a second season with the official Yamaha team. with a year of learning under his belt with the R1 and the wider team, 37-year-old Rea is determined to make a step forward in 2025, looking to return to the sharp end and add to a sterling record that has already secured his place in the record books as the most successful rider in WorldSBK history.
The Northern Irishman is once again joined in the team by 2020 Supersport world champion Andrea Locatelli, who will be looking to consolidate progress made in 2024 to search for further podium success. The 28-year-old secured five podium finishes in 2024, including coming tantalisingly close to a maiden WorldSBK victory in the season opener at Phillip Island.
Lining up with GYTR GRT Yamaha for the third consecutive year, Remy Gardner and Dominique Aegerter are fired up and raring to go as the new campaign gets underway. Gardner, who won the Moto2 World Championship in 2021, achieved his maiden WorldSBK podium in 2024 and will be looking to fight for rostrums more consistently in 2025. After a 2024 season blighted by illness and injury, two-times Supersport World Champion Aegerter will be keen to return to the form that saw him fighting regularly in the top six in 2023.
Ahead of the final European test in Portimão, the covers have come off the R1 machines Rea, Locatelli, Gardner and Aegerter will campaign in 2025.
Pata Snack returns as the title sponsor of Yamaha’s official WorldSBK squad for a tenth consecutive season, with their distinctive logo not only featuring prominently on the bikes of the official team, but also the R1s campaigned by the GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team.
Pata’s valued partnership with Yamaha extends throughout the classes with the Italian snack manufacturer also the title sponsor of the Pata Yamaha Ten Kate WorldSSP Supported Team.
Harris MAXUS, a brand of the leading commercial vehicle distribution company in the UK and Ireland, the Harris Group, joins the Official Yamaha WorldSBK Team as co-title partner for the 2025 and 2026 seasons.
Elsewhere on the grid, a fifth world champion joins Yamaha’s ranks in WorldSBK for 2025 as the Yamaha MotoXRacing Team expand to a two-rider effort for the upcoming season, fielding 2014 Moto2 World Champion Esteve ‘Tito’ Rabat alongside Turkish young gun and former Yamaha BLU CRU Rider, Bahattin Sofuoğlu, who is set to make his WorldSBK debut in the coming season.
Pata Maxus Yamaha are joined on track at the Autódromo Internacional do Algarve by GYTR GRT Yamaha and Yamaha MotoxRacing for a final European pre-season test (27-29 January) before flying to Australia next month. Once ‘down under’, teams will undergo one final pre-season test at the Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit (17-18 February) before the season’s first races get underway between 21-23 February.
Andrea Dosoli, Yamaha Motor Europe, Motorsport, Division Manager
“2025 marks a significant milestone for Yamaha as we celebrate ten years since our return to the FIM Superbike World Championship in 2016, alongside a decade of invaluable partnership with Pata Snack. While our results in 2024 fell short of expectations, the dedication and collaborative effort from our engineers, the wider YME management team, our riders and our teams has been unwavering. Over the winter, everyone has been working hard to make a step forward for 2025 and encouraging progress in winter testing fuels our confidence as we prepare for another year of racing. The competition in WorldSBK is at a really high level, so we are excited for another year of close, thrilling battles on track.”
Niccolò Canepa, Yamaha Motor Europe, Motorsport, Road Racing Sporting Manager
“It is an impressive statistic to have five world champions on the R1 as we head into WorldSBK 2025. Jonathan’s career achievements speak for themselves as he is the most successful rider in WorldSBK history. While last season presented challenges for him, his determination and resilience are second to none and a year of experience with the R1 will undoubtedly prove important. Andrea enters his fifth season with Yamaha in WorldSBK, having already demonstrated his ability to compete at the front. We are confident he will continue to build on his impressive performances.
“Consistency is hugely important in racing, and with Remy Gardner and Dominique Aegerter continuing with the GYTR GRT Yamaha Team for a third consecutive season, the team is well-positioned to hit the ground running. Both riders have shown great promise in the last two years.
“We are also excited to see the Yamaha MotoxRacing Team expand to two bikes on the 2025 WorldSBK grid, featuring the experienced 2014 Moto2 World Champion Tito Rabat and the dynamic Turkish talent Bahattin Sofuoğlu.
“Thanks for the effort from all of our teams, we eagerly anticipate the start of what promises to be an exciting 2025 season!”
©Words/Images above are from official press release posted courtesy of the team
