2020 marks the fifth year for the partnership between Yamaha and Crescent Racing and both parties head into the new season keen to build on the success of 2018 and 2019, during which they secured 31 podium finishes and four race wins together.
Michael van der Mark returns in 2020 for his fourth season with the Pata Yamaha squad, with his sights set firmly on the top step of the podium. The 27-year-old Dutch rider has been a consistent WorldSBK front runner in recent years, racking up 20 podium finishes and three race wins aboard the Yamaha R1, but heads into the new season determined to play a bigger part in the battle for the championship.
Joining van der Mark at Pata Yamaha for 2020 will be Toprak Razgatlıoğlu, the most exciting young rider on the WorldSBK grid. Combining raw speed and fierce determination, the 23-year-old Turkish rider was one of the standout riders of 2019, securing his maiden WorldSBK win with a scintillating performance in Race 1 at Magny-Cours. Razgatlıoğlu was quick to adapt to the Yamaha R1 during testing at the end of 2019 and he is keen to establish himself as a championship contender as he heads into the new season.
The GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Junior Team will field an exciting international rider line-up for the 2020 FIM Superbike World Championship season, with Italian Federico Caricasulo and American Garrett Gerloff both making their WorldSBK debut aboard the GRT Yamaha R1 machines.
Caricasulo is already familiar with the GRT Yamaha squad, having contested the FIM Supersport World Championship with them in 2017 and 2018, taking his Yamaha R6 to ten podium finishes and three race wins during his two seasons with the team. The 23-year-old Italian also knows the majority of the tracks on the WorldSBK calendar but will have to adapt his Supersport derived riding style during preseason testing to better suit the heavier and more powerful Yamaha R1 on which he'll contest his debut WorldSBK season.
Gerloff is also a rider with a winning pedigree. The 24-year-old Texan was MotoAmerica Supersport Champion in 2016 and 2017 and secured his first podium finish on his debut for the Yamaha Factory Superbike Team in 2018. The Texan remained with Yamaha in 2019, securing four race wins and 15 podium finishes on his way to finishing third overall in his second full season of the MotoAmerica Superbike Championship. Gerloff was quick to adapt to the WorldSBK specification Yamaha R1 during testing at the end of 2019 and remains unfazed by the fact that every track he races at this season will be new to him.
A veteran at just 26 years of age, Frenchman Loris Baz returns to action as the sole rider with the Ten Kate Yamaha WorldSBK Supported Team in 2020. The team made their return to WorldSBK part way through 2019 and Baz racked up ten top-ten finishes over the course of the season to finish an impressive tenth in the championship standings, despite missing the first five rounds. In 2020 Baz is looking to build on his impressive 2019 form and regularly challenge for the podium.