Supersport: Yamaha keep Roberto Garcia close, a talent yet to blossom

Yamaha stirs the waters in the World Supersport market by announcing the retention of Roberto Garcia, 20, one of the most exciting prospects currently active in the feeder series.

The Spaniard, who joined the satellite GMT94 team midway through last season, will continue racing in 2027 with Christophe Guyot’s French outfit. Guyot is a former Endurance World Champion and has long run one of the most organized and ambitious teams in the Superbike paddock. Contractually speaking, Roberto Garcia is, in every respect, a Yamaha Europe rider. Therefore, this confirmation should be seen as a medium-term commitment that could, in the future, also involve a potential promotion to Superbike.

Born in 2006 in Seville, Roberto Garcia cut his teeth in JuniorGP, then moved up to Moto2, winning the European Championship two seasons ago. After a few wild card appearances in the World Championship of the intermediate class, he arrived in Supersport, stepping in to replace Michael Rinaldi, who, after a World Championship start far below expectations, had fallen out with the team. Roberto Garcia, instead, found in GMT94’s Yamaha R3 the ideal platform to showcase his talent. Already last season he had hinted at excellent qualities, repeatedly coming close to the podium. That podium finally arrived a few months ago at Balaton Park in Hungary. On that occasion, he could have achieved much more had he not crashed in Race 1 while fighting for the win. But that now seems only a matter of time.

In Supersport, Yamaha is battling for the World Championship with Alberto Arenas. We’re talking about a 30-year-old rider with a long tenure in the Grand Prix paddock and a world title to his name in Moto3. If Arenas is the present, Garcia could be the future. His confirmation in Supersport ’27 effectively “frees up” Alberto Arenas as well, who is a candidate for a jump to Superbike, still with the Iwata brand, where only Andrea Locatelli is certain of his seat thanks to the two-year deal signed last year. Xavi Vierge in the factory team, along with Remy Gardner and Stefano Manzi, are the three riders on the bubble. For a possible replacement of Vierge after just one year with Yamaha, Jack Miller is a candidate as he exits MotoGP; he was also the official Yamaha R1 rider at the Suzuka 8 Hours, where he finished second.

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