A test of endurance for Yamaha and Ten Kate: a reduced budget – no contract?

Last weekend, events unfolded rapidly behind the scenes at Yamaha in Cremona. The most pressing question is: what does the future hold for the top-tier Ten Kate team? The Dutch team won the Supersport World Championship for Yamaha in 2021 and 2022 with Dominique Aegerter, and in 2025 with Stefano Manzi. However, no agreement has yet been reached for 2027 between the most successful team in the middleweight category and the Japanese manufacturer.

The reasons for this are complex, but ultimately financial in nature. Snack manufacturer Pata is set to significantly reduce its involvement with Yamaha after this season, and the ongoing lack of success of the four factory R1s in the Superbike World Championship is not pleasing company boss Remo Gobbi.

Although a very well-known name in Jack Miller has been signed for the next two Superbike seasons, the Australian is considerably more expensive than Xavier Vierge, which is creating another hole in Yamaha’s budget.

2027 SBK season: a lack of funds

As Yamaha Motor Europe has a budget plan for the SBK paddock, which is then broken down across the various classes and teams, budget cuts or falls in revenue also affect the Supersport World Championship.

In 2025 and 2026, Yuki Okamoto raced for the Ten Kate team; thanks to generous funding from Yamaha Japan, his lacklustre performances are bearable for the winning team from Nieuwleusen. However, Yuki is returning to Japan at the end of this season, and his contribution will also be missing from the 2027 budget.

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Yamaha will also be scaling back its marketing budget for the R9. When the bike first entered the Supersport World Championship in 2025, considerable resources were invested to achieve success quickly. Manzi won the title straight away on the new three-cylinder machine, and with four races to go, Albert Arenas is on the verge of emulating the Italian.

Negotiations are ongoing: more questions than answers

When officials from Yamaha and Ten Kate left the racecourse in the countryside near Cremona on Sunday evening, there were more unanswered questions than answers. Offers for continued collaboration were exchanged, but no agreement has been reached as yet.

Further talks are due to take place in the coming days; it is hard to imagine that the partnership will not continue into 2027. After all, Yamaha needs a top-tier team like Ten Kate. And Ten Kate Racing, home to one of the few Yamaha Pro Shops in Europe, needs motorsport to showcase its products.

Given the financial circumstances for 2027, Yamaha’s racing managers will carefully assess how to allocate funds. Only once Ten Kate has certainty regarding continued cooperation with Yamaha can rider contracts for next season be finalised.