Stefano Manzi, from Supersport dominance to Superbike struggles: what’s going on?
SuperbikeFriday, 24 April 2026 at 12:58
In the Supersport World Championship, Stefano Manzi delivered monstrous performances even without always riding the best bike, like the Triumph in his early seasons. Calculator in hand, however, he stepped onto the podium in over 60% of the races he contested, with an impressive 21 wins and 30 second places out of 97 starts. In Superbike, with the GYTR GRT Yamaha team, however, he’s struggling.
To date, his best result has been an eleventh place. The Yamahas are faltering this year—that’s a fact. Andrea Locatelli, the best of them, hasn’t made it to the podium yet; in fact, he’s scraped together some top-six finishes with difficulty. This start to the season is proving complicated for all the rookies. Over the winter, the riders had very little testing due to the weather. This made things difficult for anyone who needed more time to familiarize themselves with the new bike. So Stefano Manzi, too, has had a quiet start to the season. In the Yamaha camp, however, they’re happy with the progress shown, as Niccolò Canepa tells us.
"We’ve seen some nice steps forward, especially in Race 2 at Assen. First of all, he managed to fight with Remy Gardner and then, in terms of pace, on average he lost only two tenths per lap to the best Yamaha at the finish, which was Xavi Vierge’s. Maybe 15th place isn’t an exciting position for Stefano, and I understand that. He wants to do better—we expect him to and he will—but it’s encouraging to see that with a couple of tenths less per lap he would have been right there fighting with Xavi. That’s a very positive sign. We have total confidence in Manzi. I’m happy because we’re seeing solid steps forward, real improvements. Unfortunately, the winter affected the first half of the season for all the rookies, and that has to be taken into account when making an assessment."
Now the friendly tracks are coming.
"There’s no doubt that a Supersport world champion knows how to ride a bike and how to get to the front. Soon we’ll get to tracks he knows better, and I’m especially thinking of Misano where he already tested a Superbike last year. We’ll also do a test, so I can’t wait to see him on the friendly circuits where this gap in laps completed and experience will narrow, and I’m convinced he’ll be strong."
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