Yamaha confirm 2025 six-rider Supersport line-up

Yamaha have confirmed their riders for the 2025 FIM Supersport World Championship.

Stefano Manzi, twice a former runner-up in the series, will race for the Pata Yamaha Ten Kate team.

Yuki Okamoto, who won the All Japan Road Racing Championship, will step up alongside Manzi.

Michael Ruben Rinaldi, a former World Superbikes race winner, will join GMT94 Yamaha, alongside ex-Supersport champion Lucas Mahias.

The Evan Bros team will undergo a major change next year.

They join Yamaha’s bLU cRU program to prioritise bringing through new talent into WorldSSP.

Can Öncü, former Red Bull Rookies Cup champion, and Aldi Satya Mahendra, the reigning FIM Supersport 300 World Champion, form the Evans Bros duo.

Yamaha’s 2025 Supersport riders will ride the R9, powered by the manufacturer’s 890cc three-cylinder engine.

The Yamaha Supersport line-up will feature at a shakedown test at Cremona on November 7-8 to test the R9.

Yamaha bosses explain selection

Andrea Dosoli, Yamaha’s division manager, said: “We are pleased to announce our new line-up for the 2025 Supersport World Championship, which marks a new approach for us in the Supersport category.

“The R9 is a very important new model, so to have such a strong line-up in our first year is important. We believe this is the best strategy for us to launch this new era of Supersport for Yamaha.

“Not only does having a diverse line-up, comprising a mix of experience and youth, give us the greatest chance of achieving the best results possible for the R9 in its first year of competition, but it also means we have significant input for the development of this brand new model, which is important as we prepare to roll out the race kit for national championships ahead of the 2026 season.

“The global role of our WorldSBK programme is also emphasised by the support from YMC in the signing of Aldi Mahendra and Yuki Okamoto, two promising young riders who have risen through the ranks with Yamaha.”

Niccolo Canepa, Yamaha’s sporting manager, added: “Bringing a brand-new motorcycle to the racetrack is a big task and we needed a rider line-up to reflect the efforts put in by the engineers in our R&D department over the last year.

“In our 2025 riders we believe we have a line-up that not only puts us in the best position to maximise the R9’s potential in its first year of racing, but also exemplifies Yamaha’s racing philosophy.

“In Manzi, we have a rider who is a proven Supersport contender having finished runner-up in the world for Yamaha in 2023 and 2024.

“The R9 is a completely different motorcycle to the R6 and will need to be ridden in a different way, from our tests we know the machine’s torque will require more of a ‘big bike’ riding style, it’s for this reason we have included Michael Ruben Rinaldi, a rider with race-winning WorldSBK experience in our line-up.

“Can Öncü is a young rider with a lot of potential, so we are pleased to have brought him to Yamaha for 2025 as he looks to make the ‘next step’ as a WorldSSP contender in the new bLU cRU Evan Bros team.

“The promotion of Aldi Satya Mahendra and Yuki Okamoto reflects Yamaha’s step-up philosophy, with Aldi progressing from the R3 World Cup to WorldSSP300 and now WorldSSP, and Yuki making the move after winning JSB1000 this season.

“All three of our supported teams for 2025 are proven WorldSSP contenders. The Ten Kate name speaks for itself in the WorldSSP history books and team’s achievements with Manzi in the last two seasons, and Dominique Aegerter before that, show their level.

“Evan Bros Racing have also brought Yamaha two WorldSSP championships in their time on the world stage, while GMT94 are one of the most experienced Supersport teams on the grid.

“We are confident that with this rider and team line-up, we can look to unlock the R9’s potential in WorldSSP while the R&D team continue work to develop the package even further.”