YAMAHA R9 WINS ON DEBUT
It was a fairytale debut on the track for Yamaha ’ s eagerly awaited R9 debut at the Phillip Island first round of the 2025 WSBK season . Stefano Manzi started the new era just as he finished last season on the R6 , winning a hard-fought battle in the new generation of WSS . The Pata Yamaha Ten Kate Racing rider shares the lead with Tom Booth-Amos as the paddock moves to Portimão for Round Two . Both men scored a win and a second at the Island . Manzi was unsurprisingly pretty happy with the result but was quick to point to a few improvements to the bike that he expects will make it an even better package moving forwards . The World SuperSports class has all eyes upon it as it is seen as a class with growing importance to the motorcycle sales arena . It is no secret that the litre-class machines don ’ t sell to the public as well as the slightly lower powered models in the public sector and with MotoGP heading into the final two years with the 1000cc engines , swapping to the new 850cc rules , speculation swirls around what the future will be in the Superbike world as most feel that it
will be reigned in , to what degree nobody knows for sure . The one thing that is certain is that there is no way those at the helm will allow the street-based superbikes to threaten the premier class as far as lap times are concerned , so if that gap is too close , something will have to give . Still , it is making for a well-supported new era in WSS .
KIWI RIDER 13