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Japanese manufacturer Yamaha had two titles up for grabs during the Pirelli Portuguese Round as the MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship headed to Portugal and the Autodromo Internacional do Algarve, with the Manufacturers’ Championship up for grabs in both WorldSSP and WorldSSP300. Yamaha had, prior to 2022, won five Manufacturers’ titles in a row from 2017 in WorldSSP, while they were going in search of their first since 2017 in WorldSSP300.

In WorldSSP, Yamaha have been the dominant manufacturer throughout 2022 having won all but one race up to and including the Portuguese Round, meaning they were able to wrap up the title with three rounds to spare to make it six-in-a-row for the Japanese brand. Two Yamaha riders have been fighting at the front of the field throughout the season with reigning Champion and Championship leader Dominique Aegerter (Ten Kate Racing Yamaha) taking 13 wins this season and his title rival, Lorenzo Baldassarri (Evan Bros. WorldSSP Yamaha Team) adding four more.

The only rider and manufacturer to prevent a Yamaha clean sweep so far this season has been Stefano Manzi (Dynavolt Triumph) on the Street Triple RS machine, introduced to WorldSSP this year following a new technical ruleset, meaning Yamaha have picked up 445 points out of a possible 450 in 2022. Their nearest rival in the Manufacturers’ Championship are Ducati, who trail Yamaha by 190 points with three rounds remaining. It means Yamaha were able to wrap up their tenth Manufacturers’ Championship in WorldSSP with three rounds to spare.

Discussing Yamaha’s success in WorldSSP, Andrea Dosoli, Yamaha Motor Europe, Road Racing Manager, said: "This is now the sixth title in a row for Yamaha in the WorldSSP class and I would like to congratulate all the riders, teams and everybody at Yamaha who have been working very hard to make this possible. Obviously, this year there have been several changes in the World Supersport category, with new manufacturers and bikes joining the grid, but it’s nice to see that the Yamaha R6, in the hands of our talented riders and teams, is very competitive, winning almost every race so far this season."

Yamaha’s success also translated into the WorldSSP300 Championship as they took their first Riders’ and Manufacturers’ Championships since 2017, as Alvaro Diaz (Arco Motor University Team) took the 2022 title after a season of record-breaking consistency. Yamaha machines took eight wins out of a possible 16 throughout 2022, the most they have claimed in a single WorldSSP300 campaign, with four different riders contributing to that win tally.

Marc Garcia (Yamaha MS Racing) took three wins throughout the season, the most of any Yamaha rider, as the 2017 Champion finished fourth in 2022, with Diaz adding two wins to the tally. Rookie Matteo Vannucci (AG Motorsport Italia Yamaha) added a further two wins to Yamaha’s total and there was an additional win from Mirko Gennai (Team BrCorse) as the Italian took the final win of the season in Race 2 at Portimao.

"It has been a fantastic season for Yamaha in the WorldSSP300 class. First, we had one of our bLU cRU graduates, Alvaro Diaz, win the Riders’ Championship in Race 1, and now we end 2022 with our first Manufacturers’ Championship since 2017. We have really seen a lot of young talent on our R3 bikes this season, with eight victories from four different riders, so it’s thanks to them, as well as the hard work done by the teams, that we can celebrate this title. We have a lot of promising riders coming from our bLU cRU program, so we’re excited to see what they can achieve next year as well."

Can Yamaha claim all three Manufacturers’ Championships in 2022? Find out using the WorldSBK VideoPass!