Image: Supplied.

Italian Niccolo Canepa will join the YART Yamaha Official EWC Team for the 2018-2019 Endurance World Championship (EWC) season, which gets underway with the Bol d’Or 24 Hours on 15 September.

Canepa will race alongside Australian mainstay Broc Parkes, who returns for a seventh season with YART, and German Marvin Fritz. Canepa was world champion with GMT94 in 2017, however that team will focus on World Supersport next year.

“I’m really happy to be continuing with Yamaha in the Endurance World Championship this season, especially with YART who are the leading Yamaha team in the series,” Canepa commented. “I am looking forward to carrying on from where I left off with GMT94, fighting for the podium and fighting for race wins with the new team.

“It’s a very good situation for me for the coming season, as I’ll be teamed up with two very fast and experienced riders in Broc and Marvin, which I’m very happy about. I think we will enjoy our season together, but now I can’t wait to test the bike tomorrow, as well as the Bridgestone tyres that for me are also new.”

Canepa will make his first appearance for the YART Yamaha Official EWC Team during the Bol d’Or official two-day test, which gets underway at Circuit Paul Ricard today.

“We are happy to welcome Niccolo into our team,” explained YART team manager Mandy Kainz. “He has a lot of experience, he has won both races and the championship and I think his winning spirit will help us repeat the success that we enjoyed at the Slovakia Ring.

“I think he will adapt quickly to our YZF-R1 because it is a lot closer to the WorldSBK specification machine he is used to than the bike he campaigned previously for GMT94. My feeling is that with Broc Parkes, Marvin Fritz and now Niccolo Canepa we have the strongest rider line-up in the championship and, with a little of the luck that is always needed in endurance racing, I think we can challenge at the front once again this season.”