Federico Caricasulo (left on GRT Yamaha) in the fight with HRC Honda ace Alvaro Bautista on the Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours in France 2020. With just 5 placements in the top ten, the young Italian could not hold his own in the WSBK and is trying a new one this season Attack on the WorldSSP 600 title.

The Yamaha junior team before the first race of 2021

It was 2019 when we couldn’t help but laugh out loud when we introduced the Yamaha junior team. Even with Sandro Cortese and his hairline slipped back a little, one could no longer speak of a “young talent”, given his 29 years of age. But this term only became really ridiculous when Marco Melandri, who turned 37 during the season mentioned, was signed on. This made the racing dwarf even the oldest in the WorldSBK driver field. But when Jonathan Rea lapped in Donington in July 2019 in the first run, it only took a few days until the announcement of his resignation. His team-mate from Germany was only able to meet expectations in tests and qualifying sessions. Therefore, it became clear early on that Cortese had to look for another team for 2020.

The moment of perhaps the greatest disappointment of his career, captured by us in the Parc Fermé of Donington Park 2019 after the 1st run on Saturday. Shortly before that, Marco Melandri had been lapped by Jonathan Rea on the GRT Yamaha. He was supposed to come back a year later as a replacement driver, but gave up in the middle of the season due to unsuccessfulness.

The successors as a real youth team from Yamaha
With Garrett Gerloff came a rider from the MotoAmerica Superbike championship who first had to relearn all the tracks. His team colleague, who could also be described as a young driver without being fraudulent, brought with him completely different requirements. As the WSSP 600 vice world champion, he was only beaten by “Krummi” by a very thin layer, which is why a lot was expected of the young Italian. After five ninth places as the best result and 14th place in the World Championship, it was clear that after Melandri and Cortese, Federico Caricasulo no longer had a future with the Yamaha youth team.

Garrett Gerloff in the box of Monster Energy Yamaha box by Valentino Rossi in Valencia – after that almost every two-wheel racing fan knew him. On Friday morning the Texan drove as a substitute for the old master on the completely unknown track and for him absolutely new bike, tires and Brake faster than Joan Mir, Fabio Quartararo and Cal Crutchlow.

Only one of the two newcomers was convincing
The Texan, on the other hand, fought permanently at the front from Barcelona, and it was clear that he could stay. Many observers were only astonished that WSSP 600 world champion Andrea Locatelli was preferred to him in the works team. However, according to his own statement, the US boy didn’t care at all. Gerloff feels comfortable in his team and wants to show what he’s made of in his second WSBK season and constantly try to fight for the podium. With Kohta Nozane he got a new teammate, with whom communication is likely to become even more difficult. Until recently, the Japanese hardly spoke a word of English. However, this does not have to be a handicap in order to be able to prevail on the racetrack.

Kohta Nozane (GRT Yamaha) – the reigning Japanese Superbike champion has the same problem in his rookie season as his team-mate Gerloff a year ago. He has to relearn all the routes, and he also has a linguistic handicap because apart from his national language he only has very limited knowledge, including English.

What can we expect from GRT Yamaha and its riders in 2021?

For Kohta Nozane, the goal will be to consistently finish in the points. If he makes it into the top ten a few times, the Japanese from Yamaha should get the chance for a second season. Of course, the bar is much higher for his teammate from the USA. This also applies to his own expectations. Garrett Gerloff made it clear that his goal was to regularly fight for podium places. With the Texan it can even happen that Toprak Razgatlioglu has to watch out for him. In contrast to Nozane, the American will not be able to surprise us if he is on top of the podium. For him, the question is more whether he can permanently make it far ahead. Constance is possibly his biggest challenge for 2021.

Garrett Gerloff (GRT Yamaha) on the Yamaha YZF-R1 – the US Boy is an absolute promise for the future. According to some of his famous compatriots, such as Wayne Rainey, he definitely has what it takes to be one of the greats.

>Aragon preview: see separate report on this page.

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