In the two-day test in Andalusia, Stefano Manzi's apprenticeship journey is continuing on the Yamaha R1 he'll be riding next year, in his debut season in the Superbike World Championship. Having already gotten a taste of the bike in Misano and in the first test in 2026 held last month here in Jerez, the GRT team rider grinded out another 95 laps today. He ended with a 7th time, eight tenths from the reference by his brand mate, Andrea Locatelli, but this result doesn't make the 26-year-old completely happy.
"I'm not completely satisfied because, in the afternoon, we had some tests that made us lose direction and speed a bit. So, at the end of the day, I wasn't able to reach the time I had set for myself this morning," he said. "Besides that, I'm very satisfied, because riding the Superbike and working with this team is really great. We're doing a good job and, even if I didn't shine very brightly, I didn't go very slow either. Fortunately, we'll have another day tomorrow, and we'll see if we can continue the work and maybe find some speed again."
Is your riding style more suited to the Superbike than SuperSport?
"I think so, but I have to adapt a little, because the body position on the bike is completely different. I was strong with braking in the Supersport, though, and it looks like I already am here in the Superbike, which is good for me. Am I strong, or as strong as Toprak? Stronger than Toprak!" he replied, jokingly. He was then pressed about being on a bike more suited to his characteristics.
"More than the bike, I'm happy that I've also grown at a championship level. One always aims to go where the best is, and this is another step forward. In general, everything is more difficult. In the Supersport, you had more margin to make mistakes. Instead, here, all the riders are very fast, and there's little margin for error. Everything is more difficult, but much better, and I'm very happy to ride this bike. At the moment, I don't feel it's completely mine, because these are still only the first tests. But I think I'm in a category I like more than the Supersport," the reigning Supersport champion admitted.
"With this bike, it feels like your first day on it. It feels like you've never ridden a bike. It's completely different from the Supersport, everything is different. You have to think about managing the power and also the speed when you brake and when you stop the bike, which are two phases where the bike moves even more. It's nice, but more complicated," the Yamaha rider added.
Could it be that Stefano had never ridden a Superbike, privately, before? "I've ridden some stock R1s in the past, but it was different," he pointed out. "I don't know how to explain it, but it's another world compared to the Supersport."
Among the things Stefano will have to change from the past are his qualifying results, which were often lackluster in the Supersport.
"I know, but the problem in the Supersport wasn't that I wasn't good enough, but the fact that we didn't have time during the weekend," he emphasized. "In Friday's qualifying, I only focused on race pace, because it wasn't important for me to be in front or not in qualifying. Here, it's a different story, and I know I have to qualify in the first three rows, because otherwise the race is gone."
Instead, speaking about the work carried out and the adjustments to be made to his R1, being one of the tallest in Yamaha, the rider from Rimini said, "I tried the new swingarm. We're doing some comparative tests. Lengthen the bike because I'm tall? Maybe Gardner is as tall as me, and Toprak even a little bit taller. He's ridden this bike in the past, and the sizes haven't changed much since then. We'll have to make the usual adjustments to the footpegs and handlebars, but I'm already feeling pretty good."
Speaking of Razgatlioglu, Manzi wasn't surprised by the Turkish rider's performance in the Valencia test. "He did well and, from such a champion, you expect what he did. Of course, expectations are high, and I'm happy that he was fast, also because it's good publicity for this championship."
Stefano then concluded by explaining why he'll have to be a spectator at this year's 100km of Champions. "Unfortunately, I'm not in time, because Friday is practice, and we'll be getting home in the afternoon. It's tto bad, but the important thing is this... testing with the bike I'll be racing with."