After a strong sophomore FIM Superbike World Championship campaign in 2020, the GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Junior Team retain breakthrough American star Garrett Gerloff for 2021, bringing on-board Japanese ace Kohta Nozane for his maiden season. The 2017 season saw an incredible debut year for the 2017 R6, as GRT Yamaha Official WorldSSP Team managed to complete the clean-sweep of titles in one of the most competitive classes on the planet. 28-year-old French rider Lucas Mahias took on all-comers to become the FIM Supersport World Champion, while his teammate Federico Caricasulo, race-winner in Thailand, finished the season in an encouraging fifth place as he also impressed on the new R6, and meant that GRT lifted the Team title and Yamaha claimed the Manufacturer's crown. In 2018 Mahias and Caricasulo finished second and fifth in the championship respectively, having racked up eight pole positions, 12 podium finishes and four race wins between them over the course of the season. It was enough to secure GRT Yamaha the Team title for the second consecutive year and the results made a significant contribution to Yamaha again claiming the Manufacturer's crown. The 2019 season saw a major change as GRT Yamaha stepped up to contest the Superbike World Championship with reigning Supersport World Champion Sandro Cortese and veteran Marco Melandri, yielding two podium finishes for Melandri. With Yamaha Motor Europe retaining full responsibility for racing strategy and technical development for the collaboration, the GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team brought in ex-125 and 250 Grand Prix World Championship rider Mirko Giansanti as its Sporting and Technical Director, with Filippo Conti alongside as Team Manager. In 2020 the team’s name changed to GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Junior Team in line with their role, acting as a gateway for young Yamaha riders graduating through the bLU cRU program to make the step to WorldSBK. With new rider Gerloff, the team showed great promise and ended the season with three podiums and will contest the 2021 season with the latest Yamaha R1 machinery, while also becoming GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team, giving them an opportunity to fight for race wins and regular podiums.