Canepa teams up with Parkes and Fritz at YART for 2018/2019 EWC Campaign
Yamaha Motor Europe is pleased to announce that Niccolò Canepa will join the YART Yamaha Official EWC Team for the 2018/2019 FIM Endurance World Championship season, which kicks off with the Bol d’Or at Circuit Paul Ricard on 15th September.
Canepa will race alongside Australian Broc Parkes, who returns for a seventh season with the YART Yamaha Official EWC Team and German Marvin Fritz, for whom the 2018/2109 campaign will be his third in YART colours.
The addition of Canepa, who became the first Italian to be crowned as Endurance World Champion in 2017, significantly strengthens the rider line up at YART, who enjoyed a resurgence in performance this year with pole position at the prestigious 24 Hours of Le Mans and a decisive victory in the 8 Hours of Slovakia Ring.
Canepa will make his first appearance for the YART Yamaha Official EWC Team during the Bol d’Or official two-day test, which gets underway at Circuit Paul Ricard on Tuesday 28th August.
Niccolò Canepa
YART Yamaha Official EWC Team
“I’m really happy to be continuing with Yamaha in the Endurance World Championship this season, especially with YART who are the leading Yamaha team in the series. I am looking forward to carrying on from where I left off with GMT94, fighting for the podium and fighting for race wins with the new team. It’s a very good situation for me for the coming season, as I’ll be teamed up with two very fast and experienced riders in Broc and Marvin, which I’m very happy about. I think we will enjoy our season together, but now I can’t wait to test the bike tomorrow, as well as the Bridgestone tyres that for me are also new.”
Mandy Kainz
YART Yamaha Official EWC Team Manager
“We are happy to welcome Niccolò into our team. He has a lot of experience, he has won both races and the championship and I think his winning spirit will help us repeat the success that we enjoyed at the Slovakia Ring. I think he will adapt quickly to our Yamaha YZF-R1 because it is a lot closer to the WorldSBK specification machine he is used to than the bike he campaigned previously for GMT94. My feeling is that with Broc Parkes, Marvin Fritz and now Niccolò Canepa we have the strongest rider line up in the Endurance World Championship and, with a little of the luck that is always needed in endurance racing, I think we can challenge at the front once again this season.”