There has been a bit of a reshuffle within Yamaha management in recent weeks, with Andrea Dosoli moving on to a new role as well as Niccolo Canepa. The Italian only recently retired from racing but has been given an off-track role within the Japanese manufacturer as they look to make the most out of his vast experience as a racer, test rider and rider coach. Canepa will take up the role of Road Racing Sporting Manager within Yamaha Motor Europe, taking over Dosoli’s responsibilities who moves into the Division Manager role in the Motorsport Division.
BACKGROUND AND NEW ROLE: from racing to Sporting Manager
Canepa announced his racing retirement before the final round of this year’s EWC which took place a week before the Italian Round at Cremona. However, that lasted just a few days as he stepped in to replace the injured Jonathan Rea at Pata Prometeon Yamaha on home soil. With the racing season now over, Canepa has re-retired from racing following his last-minute call-up, before being appointed as the Road Racing Sporting Manager.
His role will see him working with Riccardo Tisci, who continues as the Motorsport Road Racing Technical Manager, while Canepa will oversee both the WorldSBK and EWC efforts from Yamaha Motor Europe. He has vast experience as a rider, having competed in MotoGP™, WorldSBK, WorldSSP, Moto2™, and MotoE™ while also becoming Italy’s most successful rider in endurance racing with three titles to his name.
Discussing his new role, Canepa said: “Now the retirement is official! I’ve ended my racing career, and it was announced that I’ll be the Sporting Manager for road racing for Yamaha next year. You’ll see me in the WorldSBK paddock at every round. It’s going to be a challenge but I know the riders very well, and I’ve been a rider until literally last week. I know the riders very well and have relationships with teams. Of course, my task will be trying to help the riders perform at their best, to maintain the relationships with teams and this will be challenging, but I’m looking forward to it.”
TAKING YAMAHA BACK TO P1: a challenge awaits
Canepa and Tisci will both work towards the same goal of returning Yamaha to winning ways, after a season where they slipped to fourth in the Manufacturers’ Championship and didn’t win a race. It was the first time since 2017 that the Japanese brand didn’t step on the top step of the rostrum and they’ll be hoping for a change of fortunes heading into next season, which will start with their first pre-season test in a few weeks.
Talking about how he’ll work together with Tisci, Canepa added: “Working with Riccardo is great. We’ve been working together in the last seven or eight years. I was in a different role, but we got to know each other a lot. He has a lot of talent, a lot of new ideas. He’s done an amazing job so far. It’s going to be interesting to keep working with him in a different role, but I have full trust in him. Technically, he’s at a high level. It’s going to be interesting working with him.”
DOSOLI SAYS: “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”
Speaking when the announcement was made, Dosoli said: “We are very happy that while Niccolo is retiring from racing, he will remain in the Yamaha family in the role of Road Racing Sporting Manager. After nine seasons with Yamaha racing in EWC and as our Development Rider for WorldSBK, Niccolo 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 Niccolo, together with Riccardo Tisci, who will continue to oversee the technical side of our road racing projects, will make a strong management team.”
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Source: WorldSBK.com