Manzi on his WorldSBK Test atop the Yamaha R1 – "It was amazing, one of the best days of my life"
Stefano Manzi (Pata Yamaha Ten Kate Racing) took a break from the WorldSSP field to ride with new machinery, giving the Yamaha R1 a try temporarily as opposed to his normal WorldSSP R9
FIM Supersport World Championship rider Stefano Manzi (Pata Yamaha Ten Kate Racing) had his first taste of WorldSBK action at the Misano Test’s Day 2. The WorldSSP rider has been lighting up the grid this year, and he has been rewarded with a testing spot on Yamaha’s WorldSBK bike, the R1. He jumped at the opportunity, and considering this is allegedly his first testing day on a superbike, his pace was impressive as he finished above test riders and permanent grid riders alike.
MANZI ELATED - “It was one of the best days of my life, I have a super team, and finally I have all day long with a superbike for the first time.”
In the Test’s Day 2, Manzi finished P18, just a hair ahead of fellow Yamaha rider Dominique Aegerter (GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team) and Honda Rider Tarran Mackenzie (PETRONAS MIE Honda Racing Team) with his time of 1’34.428s. The Italian #62 currently leads the WorldSSP Riders’ Championship after 2023 and 2024, ending with bittersweet second places. Now in his fourth full season competing in WorldSSP, Manzi looks like he may have his sights set on the WorldSBK class.
“It was amazing, one of the best days of my life. I have a super team, and finally, I have all day long with a superbike for the first time. It was not easy, there are big differences between it and the supersport bike, but I was able to adapt quickly, and we made progress from FP3 to FP4. We didn’t make any stupid mistakes, and we grew throughout the day, which were our goals, so the team and I are quite happy. The gap between me and P1 was high, but compared to the other Yamahas, we didn’t do badly.
“I would have liked to have 3 more hours when I saw the flag at the end” – Manzi on his Test Day with the R1
Manzi's time atop the Yamaha R1 was an opportunity for him to dip his toe into the WorldSBK field and get an idea of the pace of the bikes as well as the other riders. While he has a long way to go if he wants to be in the battle at the front, his pace today, considering it was by his account, his first full day of testing with the R1, was impressive, even outpacing current fellow Yamaha rider Dominique Aegerter (GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team).
On his learning opportunity, Manzi said, “I tried to learn as much as possible today, it’s super nice compared to WorldSSP, how all the Yamaha riders here share data, it helps a lot to see the riders on track and see the lines they take. I would have loved to have had more time on the bike; I would have liked to have had 3 hours more when I saw the flag at the end. There are many areas I need to improve, but I think that my braking points were not bad, that is something from World Supersport that I do well.”
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