GRT Yamaha retains Kohta Nozane for 2022 World Superbike season

Yamaha has officially confirmed Japanese rider Kohta Nozane will be staying with GRT for the 2022 World Superbike campaign. 

Nozane’s signing also means Yamaha is the only WorldSBK manufacturer to have all of their seats for next year filled thus far - Garrett Gerloff alongside Nozane at GRT, while championship leader Toprak Razgatlioglu and Andrea Locatelli are staying with Pata Yamaha. 

Nozane’s debut season has seen him take two top tens finishes, the first of which came at the season opener in Aragon, while another in race two at Catalunya saw him get the better of factory Honda rider Leon Haslam.

Speaking about retaining Nozane, Yamaha Motor Europe Road Racing Manager, Andrea Dosoli said: "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."

As has been the case for many rounds this season, this weekend will be another completely new circuit for the former Japanese championship rider as World Superbike returns to San Juan, Argentina, for just the second time (first of those in 2019).