Christophe Ponsson, Gil Motorsport swells 2021 WorldSBK grid

Christophe Ponsson will return to the WorldSBK Championship in 2021 aboard a Yamaha R1 prepared by his family run Gil Motorsport outfit.

A Spanish Superbike front runner and runner-up in 2019, the Frenchman is gathering experience at an international level after completing a full season with Grillini Kawasaki in 2015 - where he was a regular points-scorer - and a handful of outings on the Nuova M2 Aprilia RSV4 in 2020.

For 2021, Ponsson will return to the series full-time on a privateer Yamaha R1 under the Gil Motorsport banner owned by his father Jean-Christophe Ponsson. The outfit is a regular in the French and Spanish series’ and has entered mostly Kawasakis with the likes of Chris Walker, Katsuaki Fujiwara and Pere Riba over the years

"I'm very excited to ride in the MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship with Yamaha. I had a great time riding the Yamaha R1 during my three seasons in the Spanish superbike championship. I always felt comfortable on the Yamaha R1, made progress, achieved my best results and I’ve always been very confident with the bike. 

“I am convinced that it will be the ideal package with the Gil Motor Sport-Yamaha team. I look forward to discovering the Superbike Yamaha R1 at our first test in January 2021, and to starting the work with the team.”

“With a strong background in World Supersport, the Gil Motor Sport team decided to take part in the MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship in 2021,” said Team Manager Andre Arimondo. 

Ponsson’s addition sees the entry list swell to 18 entries thus far, seven of which will involve Yamaha machinery.

“An experienced team has been built up around our rider Christophe Ponsson who has all the required experience to succeed in WorldSBK. We needed to build a strong partnership with a manufacturer, and it has been quickly obvious that Yamaha would be the right one as our rider, Christophe Ponsson, has just completed three seasons onboard of the Yamaha YZF-R1 in the Spanish Superbike Championship. 

“We purchased two 2021 Yamaha YZF-R1 Customer Competition and are supported by four experienced technicians, supervised by our Chief Mechanic, Lucio Gomes. In mid-January, the Gil Motor Sport – Yamaha team will head to their first tests with its Yamaha YZF-R1.”