WSBK: Melandri and Cortese spearhead GRT Yamaha Superbike assault in 2019

The GRT Yamaha team will move up from the World Supersport Championship and join the World Superbike grid with a star-studded, world championship-winning line-up of Marco Melandri and Sandro Cortese. The team won the World Supersport title with Luca Mahias in 2017 and were runners-up in 2018 to Sandro Cortese.

With this new venture, it marks the first time that there has potentially been two German riders on the WSBK grid for the entire season since 2017 but if both complete the season, it’ll be the first time ever that two German riders would’ve completed an entire WSBK season. The other German rider is Markus Reiterberger at the SMR BMW Racing team.

Marco Melandri has been cast aside at the Aruba.IT Ducati team to make way for the incoming and much anticipated arrival of Alvaro Bautista. Melandri took two wins at the start of 2018 at Phillip Island but finished 5th overall in the championship, a total of 30 points down on his 2017 tally in the championship.

Both riders have achieved World titles in the Grand Prix paddock; Marco Melandri clinched the 250cc championship in 2002 and Sandro Cortese took the inaugural Moto3 crown, back in 2012. Cortese will make his debut on a 1000cc bike with his move to Superbike, whilst Marco Melandri returns to Yamaha in WSBK for the first time since 2011, when he won four races for them.

The GRT Yamaha team will be factory supported from Yamaha Motor Europe, pitching them against virtually identical machinery that is used at the Crescent Racing Pata Yamaha team, who field Michael van der Mark and Alex Lowes.

Sandro Cortese was jubilant about his move to World Superbikes, stating: “To win the WorldSSP championship and then step up to WorldSBK with the GRT Yamaha Team is like a dream come true for me. I’m super happy to be a part of this new project and, although it’s a big step, I am really looking forward to the challenge,” said the 2018 World Supersport champion.

“I can’t wait to jump on the Yamaha YZF-R1 for the first time in Jerez later this month to start the familiarisation process. It will be like Christmas for me; I’ve never ridden such a big bike before and I am like a small kid who can’t wait to get his present! The bike will be more physically demanding to ride than the Yamaha YZF-R6 and, with three races every weekend instead of just one next year, I will definitely need to work on my fitness over the winter to ensure I’m ready.”

Team manager, Filippo Conti, has high expectations from the GRT Yamaha riders, citing that they want to be as competitive in Superbike as they were in Supersport.

“I am really delighted to be stepping up to the WorldSBK championship with Yamaha, it’s like a dream come true. We started this project in WorldSSP and now we are moving up to WorldSBK, which is very important for the team but also for Yamaha’s production racing program,” he began.

“It’s a big step for us and we know we will be facing a steep learning curve in our debut season, but our two riders bring with them a wealth of experience. Riders don’t come more experienced than Marco, who has been a frontrunner in WorldSBK since he came to the championship in 2011. And while 2019 will be Sandro’s first season on a WorldSBK machine, he’s the reigning WorldSSP champion and a former Moto3 World Champion, so I expect him to adapt quickly to our Yamaha YZF-R1.

“We need to learn a lot in this new category, but our target is clear; we want to be as competitive in WorldSBK as we have been in WorldSSP. Maybe this isn’t possible in our debut season, but that’s the goal for the future.”