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Andrea Locatelli’s dominant victory in the 2020 World Supersport championship on the Bardahl Evan Bros team’s Yamaha YZF-R6, marks the 20th anniversary of the juniorYamaha sportbike’s debut world title victory in 2000, in the hands of the German Alpha Technik team rider, Jörg Teuchert.
That was the first of eight world titles – so far – secured by YZF-R6 riders, ever since the 1999 debut of a bike which, like its R1 big brother the previous year in the Ultrasports category, tore up the 600 Supersport design rulebook. Straight off the drawing board the newYamaha was immediately established as the class benchmark for this ultra-competitive, best-selling category, quite a feat for a model derived from a volume-production sportbike, competing in such a closely fought series as the World Supersport Championship.
Paradoxically, though, while the Yamaha R6 comprehensively defeated all its rivals to win the Manufacturers World title in that inaugural World Supersport season – 1999 was the year that this WSBK support class was finally upgraded from so-called ‘FIM World Series’ to full World Championship status – it failed to win the Rider’s crown, which was scooped up by French stunt rider Stephan Chambon on the Alstare Corona Suzuki GSX-R600.
That’s because the R6 was simply so good that no less than five different riders were able to win races on it in the 11-round championship, with only Teuchert doubling up in Spain and Austria.
The Yamaha was a winner straight out of the box – without the extended four-year development cycle that Honda’s equally new ultra-short-stroke CBR600 debuting that same year needed at world level before finally netting the World crown in 2002 with Fabien Foret and Ten Kate.
Belgarda’s star sub James Whitham had given theYamaha R6 its debut victory at Donington standing in for the injured Maio Meregalli, followed in successive races by Teuchert, Dee Cee Jeans riders Wilco Zeelenberg and Ruben Xaus, and Meregalli’s team-mate Piergiorgio Bontempi, on the second Belgarda bike, who took his one win of the season at
