History was made in Australia today as Stefano Manzi took the all-new Yamaha R9 to a maiden victory in its debut outing in the FIM Supersport World Championship at the Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit.
It was poetic for Yamaha, as Manzi opened the R9’s World Championship account with victory just 126 days after closing the iconic R6’s chapter in the history books with a win in Jerez back in October.
It hasn’t been a straightforward week ‘down under’ for the Italian, who struggled initially in the two-day official test but, working hard with the Pata Yamaha Ten Kate team, he made progress session by session. The twice vice-champion qualified eighth for the R9’s debut race but being on the third row of the grid didn’t hinder Manzi as he launched off the line to join the battle for the podium on the opening lap.
It was Yamaha BLU CRU Evan Bros Racing’s Can Öncü who took the holeshot from fourth on the grid, with Lucas Mahias (GMT94 Yamaha) holding his third-place starting position in the opening exchanges.
As the race reached the halfway point with the mandatory pit stop window opening, it was Öncü, Manzi and Jaume Masia fighting for the lead. Entering the pits on the same lap, Masia seemed to gain an edge on the two R9s on the restart but was later handed a 3.5 second penalty for leaving pit lane too early.
Following the pit stops, Marcel Schroetter and Tom Booth-Amos joined the fight for the lead making it a five-way scrap at the front. Manzi asserted himself at the head of the field, but was unable to make a break, leading to a dogged battle with Masia in the closing stages. A pass at the bottom of Lukey Heights was enough to secure the Italian enough breathing room to cross the line first and make history with the R9’s maiden win on its race debut.
Öncü crossed the line fifth for Yamaha BLU CRU Evan Bros Racing, with 2017 champion Lucas Mahias completing his race in ninth. Michael Ruben Rinaldi (GMT94 Yamaha), who had looked to have pace to fight for a podium, retired with a technical issue on lap six.
Having shown impressive pace as a rookie, reigning WorldSSP300 champion Aldi Satya Mahendra’s (Yamaha BLU CRU Evan Bros Racing) WorldSSP debut came to an early end as he crashed unhurt at turn ten on the opening lap.
In WorldSSP, the grid for the second race is set by the fastest laps in the opening race meaning Manzi, who set the third fastest lap, will start from the front row. Mahias moves to sixth on the grid with Öncü ninth.
Stefano Manzi (Pata Yamaha Ten Kate Racing) – 1st
“It is amazing to open the era of the new R9 with a win! There are not many words at the moment, I need to thank Yamaha and the team as they have put a lot of effort in to this project to make this possible. It was not easy, because it was a hard fight and the pit stop also made things challenging, but I am happy to be able to say I finished first! In the winter tests in Spain, the test earlier this week and even yesterday I was not super quick, but in the end we were able to close the gap. When we left the pits and Masia had a gap on me, I thought either I’ve done something wrong, or he did something wrong, so my only goal was to catch him and win. It was a hard fight, like always in this class, but I am a fighter, so in the end it was good for me!”
Niccolò Canepa – Road Racing Sporting Manager, Yamaha Motor Europe
“This is an incredible result for Yamaha, for the R9 to take the win in its first WorldSSP race is a dream. We felt confident in the package heading into the season, but pre-season testing was hampered by bad weather and our WorldSSP teams participated in private tests away from their rivals. Since we arrived in Australia, our teams have made progress session after session and fighting for the podium was our target. Stefano rode an incredible race in true ‘Manzi style’ and he will now go down in history as the last winner on the R6 and first on the R9. Congratulations to him, the Pata Yamaha Ten Kate Racing team and all of the engineers who have worked so hard on this project over the last year. We still have work to do, but we could not have made a better start!”
