WorldSSP: Manzi signs for Ten Kate Yamaha for 2023

Stefano Manzi will join reigning champions Ten Kate Yamaha for the 2023 World Supersport season.

Manzi will join Jorge Navarro at Ten Kate next year, as the Italian moves from Dynavolt Triumph. The pair will have to wait until the end of January to try the Yamaha YZF-R6 at Portimão.

Returning to the class in 2022 for a full season, Manzi has already experienced great success in the class. Taking Triumph’s first race win in race one at Portimão, he would later get three podium finishes in their first season.

He will join Ten Kate Yamaha, who have won the championship for the past two seasons, with Swiss rider Dominique Aegerter. The Swiss would win 17 races in 2023, taking him to his second consecutive WorldSSP championship.

Before WorldSSP, Manzi raced in Moto2 for four seasons, with a best of 19^th in the championship. He would make three one-off appearances in 2022, with the best result of 10th at Le Mans.

Manzi said: “This is one of the best Christmas presents a rider can wish for: it’s fantastic to sign a contract with Ten Kate Racing. I have a lot of confidence in this project of Ten Kate Racing and Yamaha. After a first year in the World Supersport Championship, I think this is the perfect combination to show my potential. I can’t wait to get on the track and work with this team.”

Kervin Bos, Ten Kate Racing’s team manager, added: “At the end of this year, we can look back on a great season with both the rider’s title and the Teams’ Championship: a period we are incredibly proud of.

“Now we look ahead to 2023 and where we previously presented Jorge Navarro, we can now proudly announce that Stefano Manzi will be his teammate at Ten Kate Racing in the World Supersport Championship. The young Italian rider from the VR46 Riders Academy has a lot of Grand Prix experience and already completed a year in the WorldSSP Championship, and not without success.

“We are very proud of this rider line-up for 2023. Ten Kate Racing would like to welcome Stefano and wish him the best of luck. We look forward to seeing both riders in action together for the first time at the end of January during the pre-season test at the Autodromo Internacional do Algarve in Portimao.”

Image from worldsbk.com