Sebestyen joins Evan Bros. Yamaha for rest of 2021 WorldSSP season
The Hungarian rider will return to the grid in fine style from Assen onwards
As the 2021 FIM Supersport World Championship enjoys some time off, there’s plenty going on off-track as the reigning Champions, Evan Bros. WorldSSP Yamaha Team, announce a second rider for the remainder of the 2021 season. Hungarian rider Peter Sebestyen joins forces with Steven Odendaal from Assen onwards at the end of July.
After a test on Friday 16th and Saturday 17th July at the Most circuit, Sebestyen will start his adventure on the Yamaha YZF-R6 of the reigning Champions’. He is already familiar with the YZF-R6, having competed in 13 races with the bike last year, where he was able to take a top six placing at Aragon during the Teruel Round, although he was left without a ride for 2021 until this moment.
Born in Budapest on the 16th of May 1994, Sebestyen joined the WorldSBK paddock in 2013, participating in the European Junior Cup, where he took a second position. The good things he showed allowed him to make his debut in World Superbike the following year, before moving to Superstock 1000, while in 2016, he returned to Superbike to take his first points in the category.
In 2017, Peter made his debut in World Supersport, competing in the European rounds of the Championship. The following year he remained in the category, but a change of team during the season allowed him to take a top ten during the last round. In 2019, he had his first full season in WorldSSP, which saw him score points in 11 out of 12 rounds, finishing the year just a few points off the top ten, before cracking the top six during race action in 2020. The Hungarian Motorsport Development Agency (HUMDA) has been instrumental in the realisation of this project, with its commitment to the Evan Bros. WorldSSP Yamaha Team and Sebestyen as part of a multi-year growth plan for the Hungarian motorcycling movement.
Talking of the deal Sebestyen said: “I still find it hard to realise that I will be racing with the best team in the category. I have been following the Evan Bros. WorldSSP Yamaha Team for the last few seasons and I have been impressed by their methods and mentality: I have always dreamed of being part of such a team, and now the dream has come true. My strengths are tenacity, humility and passion, which I will use from the first day I can get on the bike and work with my team, giving my best.
“Now I am 100% focused on training, because the WorldSSP championship requires a lot of effort, and I want to be in the best condition right away. I want to say a big thank you to HUMDA for giving me this opportunity: it's an honour to represent my country, and I'm happy that the efforts of these years have produced such a result".
Fabio Evangelista, Evan Bros. WorldSSP Yamaha Team Principal, also celebrated the expansion of his team, for a full-time two-rider line-up for the first time since 2019: “I'm very pleased to welcome Peter Sebestyen to our team, to start this new adventure from the Assen round. He's a rider I followed for a few years now, with an untapped potential that I and the whole team will try with all our might to bring out. Peter will have the best possible package at his disposal, with a team made up of valuable elements and I'm convinced that, even though he hasn't done the winter tests with us, after a short period of adaptation he will be ready to obtain excellent results.
“I would like to sincerely thank HUMDA for the great effort they have made in reaching this agreement: I am aware of how much the Hungarian motorcycling movement wants to expand in these years, and to be part of this project is a great honour. Finally, I'm convinced that with two riders our team can shine, as it has already amply demonstrated in 2019, so this new challenge gives us a lot of stimulus for the future, which we will live together with Yamaha and our sponsors.”
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