Recently retired road racer Niccolò Canepa, who competed for the YART – ProKASRO team in the Daytona 200 this past March and also was a fill-in rider in 2020 at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca for injured Westby Racing Superbike rider Mathew Scholtz, has been named as Road Racing Sporting Manager, Motorsport Division, Yamaha Motor Europe. Canepa will take over responsibility for Yamaha’s Road Racing sporting operations from Andrea Dosoli, who has been appointed Division Manager, Motorsport Division, Yamaha Motor Europe.
Most recently, Canepa has been Rider Coach and Development Rider for Yamaha Motor Europe’s WorldSBK project, which he conducted alongside racing for Yamaha’s Official Endurance World Championship (EWC) Teams, first with GMT94 Yamaha and then the Yamaha Austria Racing Team (YART).
Having also raced in MotoGP, WorldSBK, Moto2, WorldSSP, and MotoE, as well as becoming the most successful Italian EWC rider in history, Canepa boasts an illustrious career of World Championship motorcycle racing spanning more than two decades.
He first joined Yamaha in 2016, racing in EWC and assuming the role of WorldSBK test rider. Twice an Endurance World Champion with Yamaha, Canepa announced his retirement from professional racing earlier this year, taking part in his final EWC race at the Bol d’Or and contributing to Yamaha’s victory in the EWC manufacturers’ championship.
Canepa’s role as Road Racing Sporting Manager will see him oversee the sporting side of Yamaha Motor Europe’s WorldSBK and EWC efforts, while Riccardo Tisci (YME Motorsport Road Racing Technical Manager) will continue to oversee the technical side of the projects, with both reporting to Andrea Dosoli, Division Manager, Motorsport.
“We are very happy that while Niccolò is retiring from racing, he will remain in the Yamaha family in the role of Road Racing Sporting Manager,” Dosoli said, “After nine seasons with Yamaha racing in EWC and as our Development Rider for WorldSBK, Niccolò knows both the WorldSBK and EWC projects very well. In his role as Rider Coach, he has shown excellent people and management skills, which will serve him well as he steps up to the next level. He already has very strong relationships with our teams, riders, the FIM and championship promoters, so I am confident that Niccolò, together with Riccardo Tisci, who will continue to oversee the technical side of our road racing projects, will make a strong management team.”
