News

After making a one-off appearance in the 2021 FIM Supersport World Championship as a replacement rider, Itay’s Yari Montella will return to the Championship full-time in 2022 as he links up with the Kawasaki Puccetti Racing outfit for next season, competing alongside Turkish star Can Öncü as they look to mount a title challenge. Montella will take the seat vacated by Philipp Oettl, who was announced as WorldSBK rider for Team GoEleven on Tuesday.

Montella started the season in the Moto2™ World Championship and made seven race starts in a disrupted campaign, including missing races due to a fractured right wrist sustained at the French Grand Prix at Le Mans, returning for the Styrian Grand Prix later in the season.

Prior to his Moto2™ debut, Montella competed in the FIM CEV Moto3™ Championship for three seasons with the last in 2018, where he also made his Moto3™ debut with two wildcard appearances. A move up to the European Moto2™ Championship followed in 2019 where he claimed two podiums before taking the title in 2020 and securing a ride for the 2021 campaign in the Moto2™ World Championship. Montella also spent time competing in his native Italy and won the SP 250 4T category in 2014.

At the Motul Portuguese Round at the Autodromo Internacional do Algarve, Montella made his WorldSSP debut with the GMT94 Yamaha outfit and impressed with his quick adaptation to World Supersport machinery. He claimed tenth in the Tissot Superpole session and maintained that position in Race 1. In Race 2, he was able to make progress to claim sixth place.

Montella expressed his delight at linking up with the Kawasaki Puccetti Racing outfit, saying: “I’m really pleased to become part of a competitive team like Kawasaki Puccetti Racing, a squad that has a winning history and that will allow me to be immediately competitive. I’ll do all I can to make the most of this great opportunity I’ve been offered, and for which I have to thank Manuel Puccetti, my family and all my sponsors. I can’t wait to get on the ZX-6R and start work with my new team.”

Team Owner Manuel Puccetti has been following Montella since 2014 and his title success in Italy. He said: “We’re pleased to welcome Yari Montella to the team and have signed a one-year contract that will see him race in WorldSSP. I’ve been following him since he won the Italian title in 2014 with a Kawasaki and I’m sure he’s one of the hottest talents in motorcycling right now. It will be our job to help him grow and express his full potential, as we’ve done with many young riders in the past. His experience in Moto2, in both the CEV and the world championship, will be useful as he tackles the Supersport category. I also take the opportunity to wish Philipp Oettl the very best of luck. We’ve shared two very important seasons, in which we scored eleven podiums and a pole position. We wish him all the best in his future career.”

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