The trend continues: SSP World Championship teams favour failed GP riders

The first Supersport World Champion to come through from Moto2 was Sandro Cortese in 2018. Since then, with the exception of Adrian Huertas in 2024 – who progressed to the middleweight category via the Supersport 300 World Championship – the title has been won exclusively by riders from the Supersport 300 class: Randy Krummenacher (2019), Andrea Locatelli (2020), Dominique Aegerter (2021, 2022), Nicolo Bulega (2023), Stefano Manzi (2025) and Albert Arenas (2026) – all riders who had been trained in the GP paddock.

Over the years, it became clear that the Supersport 300 class was unsuitable for training future Supersport riders; this year, it was replaced by the Sportbike category, featuring significantly heavier and more powerful bikes. The first fruits of this change are already being reaped: World Championship runner-up David Salvador has been promoted by Kawasaki to the Supersport works team for 2027, where he will share the garage with former Moto3 champion Jaume Masia. Since then, further riders and teams have finalised their arrangements for 2027.

Yamaha gives Unai Orradre a chance

GMT94, the second Yamaha-backed team alongside AS’s world championship squad, is continuing with Roberto Garcia, who finished seventh in the world championship, and has signed his Spanish compatriot Unai Orradre. The 22-year-old made his name in the Supersport 300 World Championship, where he won one race and secured four podium finishes. From 2021 onwards, he raced in the World Championship classes of Supersport, Moto2 and MotoE without any notable success – appearing only sporadically in the latter two. The deal with GMT94 is a great opportunity for Orradre, as it gives him a foothold at Yamaha.

Unai Orradre

Foto: Gold and Goose Photography

It will be years before the new sportsbike class becomes a cornucopia of talent. Failed riders from the GP paddock therefore remain of interest to the Supersport World Championship teams, as two further recent examples – Zonta van den Goorbergh (QJ Motor Ten Kate) and Ayumu Sasaki (Renegade Triumph) – demonstrate.

Two more Grand Prix riders are joining

Team Compos Triumph has signed the Japanese rider Ryusei Yamanaka, who never finished higher than ninth overall in seven seasons in Moto3. At 24, no Moto3 team will take him on, and he was unable to prove himself for Moto2. Yamanaka will be team-mate to the Czech rider Ondrej Vostatek, meaning all six Triumph riders are now confirmed. Alongside this duo are Tom Booth-Amos and Sasaki in the works team, as well as Aegerter and Joshua Whatley at PTR.

Davide Giugliano has secured the services of Italian rider Dennis Foggia for his Ducati team. The 25-year-old finished as Moto3 runner-up in 2021 and third in the World Championship the following year. In 2023, he moved up to Moto2, returned to Moto3 for 2025 and is giving Moto2 another go this year – without success and with zero points so far. D34G offers him an alternative career path, which will ideally culminate in the World Superbike Championship.

Dennis Foggia

Foto: Gold and Goose Photography

Teams & Riders, 2027 Supersport World Championship: