There will be five Yamahas on the SBK grid again this year. In addition to the official bikes of team Pata With Brixx, headed up by Paul Denning, and the GRT bikes of Filippo Conti and Mirko Giansanti’s independent team, a fifth four-cylinder will be fielded by Gil Motosport, a team that lined-up with rider Cristophe Ponnson in 2021 and that will retain the Frenchman this coming season.

Born in Lyon on 23 December 1995, 26-year old Chris is preparing for his third full season in the world championship. We say ‘full’ because he debuted in 2015, before completing a few races with Aprilia in 2020. He then contested the entire 2021 season, finishing twentieth in the overall standings.

Having taken on the challenge with the support of Alstare manager Francis Batta, before ‘going it alone’, Gil Motosport is followed closely by father Jean-Christophe, a passionate and competent motorcycle mogul. His son will therefore have the chance to exploit improvements made to the R1, the Iwata manufacturer able to count on the fixed presence of Ponsson, Kohta Nozane, Garrett Gerloff, Andrea Locatelli and Toprak Razgatlioglu in 2022.

Translated by Heather Watson

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