WorldSSP 2025
Yamaha YZF-R9
The opening round of the 2025 FIM Supersport World Championship starts a new chapter for Yamaha, with the all-new YZF-R9 set to make its race debut as the season gets underway at Phillip Island this weekend.
The three Yamaha Motor Europe WorldSSP supported teams wrapped up their pre-season with two days of official testing in Australia on Monday and Tuesday. The season’s preparations have not been straightforward in 2025 with inclement weather hampering testing time in Europe, but the four two-hour sessions at Phillip Island this week allowed for final preparations before the championship commences on Friday.
The official test marked the first time the R9 has gone up against its competitors on the stopwatch, and despite being a brand new package with limited track time in advance of heading to Australia, the 890cc three-cylinder machine fared well with progress still to come.
Yamaha BLU CRU Evan Bros Racing rider Can Öncü was fourth quickest on the combined times after two days on track with a quickest lap of 1’32.387 as he settles into his new team.
Can Öncü (Yamaha BLU CRU Evan Bros Racing) – 4th, 1’32.387
“I am quite satisfied with this test as we improved a lot. The team and I worked hard, looking for the best set-up: the people in the team are really professional, but at the same time I feel part of a family, which I like a lot. Now it’s time to rest, looking forward to the race weekend. I hope the round will go a bit like the test, where we started slowly but finished very well”.
Twice WorldSSP vice-champion Stefano Manzi (Pata Yamaha Ten Kate) was eighth quickest as he focused on adapting to the new R9 machine from the R6 he’s taken to second in the world championship in the last two seasons.
Stefano Manzi (Pata Yamaha Ten Kate) – 8th, 1’32.602
“We have had two very positive days here in Australia with a lot of useful track time. We tried a lot of different items and completed many laps, and I am happy with the things we found. Now we have two days to analyse everything and understand what we need going forward. I am happy to be working with the team again and looking forward to start the action this weekend.”
Also spending time adapting to the new machine was Michael Ruben Rinaldi (GMT94 Yamaha), who joins the WorldSSP grid having spent the last eight seasons in the Superbike class. Each session saw a step forward for the Italian.
Lucas Mahias, WorldSSP champion with Yamaha in 2017, enjoyed a productive test as the GMT94 Yamaha team spent time analysing the R9’s performance over longer distances with the Frenchman ninth on the combined timesheets and feeling confident ahead of the weekend.
Lucas Mahias (GMT94 Yamaha) – 9th, 1’32.687
“We are pleased with our work over the two days of testing and focused on understanding the R9 at this circuit. It is a new package and the starting point is at ‘zero’ so we still have a lot to learn with the bike. Considering this, we have to be happy as there will be more to come as we understand the bike more and more. On Friday we will look to confirm our set-up and then push to achieve the best result possible in the races.”
Reigning WorldSSP300 champion Aldi Satya Mahendra (Yamaha BLU CRU Evan Bros Racing) spent his time familiarising himself with the larger capacity motorcycle, coupled with learning the Phillip Island Grand Prix circuit given the test marked his first time riding the scenic, fast and flowing track. He improved session by session and will be looking to make further progress during the race weekend.
2024 Japanese Superbike Champion Yuki Okamoto (Pata Yamaha Ten Kate) will be forced to wait to make his debut in the WorldSSP championship after a crash on another rider’s oil on Monday, which saw him ruled out of the opening weekend with a dislocated and fractured coccyx. The 25-year-old has flown back to Japan to focus on his recovery.
The 2025 season gets underway at 1025 on Friday with Free Practice, before the first Superpole session of the year on Friday afternoon. The weekend’s two WorldSSP races will take place on Saturday and Sunday, both at 1430 .
World Supersport P.I. Test Times
| Pos | Rider | Bike | Time (FP) | Gap |
| 1 | BENDSNEYDER B | MV | 1m31.595 (4) | – |
| 2 | MASIA J | DUC | 1m32.129 (4) | +0.534 |
| 3 | DEBISE V | DUC | 1m32.332 (4) | +0.737 |
| 4 | ONCU C | YAM | 1m32.387 (4) | +0.792 |
| 5 | SCHROETTER M | DUC | 1m32.433 (4) | +0.838 |
| 6 | FARIOLI F | MV | 1m32.544 (4) | +0.949 |
| 7 | BAYLISS O | TRI | 1m32.557 (4) | +0.962 |
| 8 | MANZI S | YAM | 1m32.602 (4) | +1.007 |
| 9 | MAHIAS L | YAM | 1m32.687 (4) | +1.092 |
| 10 | CARDELUS X | DUC | 1m32.730 (4) | +1.135 |
| 11 | OETTL P | DUC | 1m32.827 (1) | +1.232 |
| 12 | TACCINI L | DUC | 1m32.892 (4) | +1.297 |
| 13 | TOBA K | HON | 1m32.971 (4) | +1.376 |
| 14 | RINALDI M | YAM | 1m32.973 (4) | +1.378 |
| 15 | BOOTH-AMOS T | TRI | 1m33.057 (3) | +1.462 |
| 16 | ANTONELLI N | YAM | 1m33.230 (4) | +1.635 |
| 17 | ALCOBA J | KAW | 1m33.256 (3) | +1.661 |
| 18 | POWER L | MV | 1m33.362 (4) | +1.767 |
| 19 | CARICASULO F | MV | 1m33.476 (2) | +1.881 |
| 20 | VOIGHT H | DUC | 1m33.514 (4) | +1.919 |
| 21 | JESPERSEN S | DUC | 1m33.616 (4) | +2.021 |
| 22 | MAHENDRA A | YAM | 1m33.694 (4) | +2.099 |
| 23 | VOSTATEK O | DUC | 1m33.697 (4) | +2.102 |
| 24 | VAN STRAALEN G | DUC | 1m34.106 (1) | +2.511 |
| 25 | VENEMAN LDUC | DUC | 1m35.050 (3) | +3.455 |
| 26 | OKAMOTO Y | YAM | 1m35.534 (2) | +3.939 |
| 27 | AZMAN S | HON | 1m35.777 (3) | +4.182 |
| 28 | ARBEL L | MV | 1m36.297 (4) | +4.702 |
2025 MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship Calendar
| Date | Circuit | WorldSBK | WorldSSP | SSP300 | WCR |
| 21-23 Feb | Phillip Island | X | X | ||
| 28-30 Mar | Portimao | X | X | X | |
| 11-12 Apr | Assen | X | X | X | X |
| 2-4 May | Cremona | X | X | X | |
| 16-18 May | Most | X | X | X | |
| 13-15 Jun | Misano | X | X | X | |
| 11-13 Jul | Donington | X | X | X | |
| 25-27 Jul | Balaton Park | X | X | X | |
| 5-7 Sep | Magny-Cours | X | X | X | X |
| 26-28 Sep | Aragon | X | X | X | |
| 10-12 Oct | Estoril | X | X | X | |
| 17-19 Oct | Jerez | X | X | X | X |
