The rise of Yari Montella: the kid from Southern Italy is becoming a Superbike star

It’s always worked this way: there are riders shrouded in a magical aura, considered top riders even when they don’t get results and disappoint year after year. Others are treated with condescension and spark surprise when they start becoming solid fixtures in the very elite zones of the World Championship. Yari Montella is the perfect example.

He’s not from the Motor Valley, the cradle of almost all our champions. Nor from a big city, as was the case with Max Biaggi. He, Yari Montella, comes from Oliveto Citra, a small village in the Salerno area. For southern riders, it’s well known, breaking through is harder: they have fewer opportunities and are usually accompanied by skepticism. He started very young in top-level motorcycling, but after vainly seeking a path in the World Championship, he had to restart from the Moto2 European Championship, which he won in 2020. The turning point, however, was moving to production-derived racing, and above all finding in the Barni team more than just a squad—almost a second family. Marco Barnabò took him under his wing, guiding him to recognition from the double season in the Supersport World Championship. The jump to the top class, without having won the World title but only a few rounds (8 wins), might have seemed a gamble. And yet...

Last year was a shakedown: lots of crashes, a few bright flashes of competitiveness. With a season of experience behind him, Yari started strong: in Australia he celebrated his first podium, second behind the untouchable Nicolò Bulega, someone who already smells a World title and promotion to MotoGP. Even after making an overzealous error in Race 2 in the wet, he arrived in Portugal third in the standings. So ahead of people who have won in MotoGP like Oliveira and Petrucci. And also putting the brakes on his very awkward new teammate Alvaro Bautista, with three World Championships and massive experience. “Montella is fast at Phillip Island, but in Europe he’ll be back in his kennel,” they said. And instead...

In Portimão Yari Montella started hammering again on a Friday worthy of a super top rider. Third time in the combined standings, interesting race pace, and more podiums in his sights. Bautista is behind again, and even fell. “Positive day, I’m very happy with how the weekend started, which confirms the good work we did in Australia,” said the Campanian rider with satisfaction. “We need to stay focused; there are a few points where I have margin. The goal is to close this gap, find stability of performance on the lap and also in terms of points. My dream is to stay consistently among the top five in the World Championship.”