Stefano Manzi to join World Superbikes in 2026

Stefano Manzi will leave the FIM World Supersport Championship (WorldSSP) at the end of this season after securing a ride with GRT Yamaha in the FIM Superbike World Championship (WorldSBK) for 2026 and 2027. The deal will see the Italian replace Dominique Aegerter in the satellite Yamaha WorldSBK team, which recently re-signed Australia’s Remy Gardner to a two-year contract extension.

Manzi, who tested Yamaha’s R1 bike earlier this year and reportedly made a good impression, may make his WorldSBK debut as WorldSSP champion, as the 26-year-old was leading the title chase at time of writing.

Before joining WorldSSP full-time in 2022, Manzi spent seven seasons in the grand prix paddock, across the Moto3 and Moto2 classes, where his best race finish was fourth and best championship position 19th.

Following a WorldSSP wildcard entry in 2021 with GMT94 Yamaha, the Italian’s first full season in the category, with Dynavolt Triumph in 2022, produced one race win and four other podiums.

A move to Ten Kate Racing Yamaha in 2023 saw Manzi become a bona fide contender, with four race wins and 13 other podiums that saw him finish runner-up in the championship behind Nicolo Bulega. It was more of the same in 2024, with five wins, 16 podiums and another runner-up championship result, this time behind Adrian Huertas.

This season, his third with Ten Kate Racing Yamaha, Manzi’s main protagonist has been Can Oncu (Yamaha bLU cRU Evan Bros), who has five race wins to Manzi’s seven after eight rounds, with the Italian holding a 59-point lead in the championship at time of writing.

“I am super happy and proud,” Manzi said. “This is a step that you dream of when you are riding in the smaller classes – you always want to be in the top class.

“I am excited to continue this project with Yamaha because I started with Yamaha in 2023 and every year, we have battled hard and achieved some great results, with progress each season.

“This year, we started a new project with the R9, so to continue my relationship with Yamaha with another new challenge is really exciting.”