Two-time FIM Endurance World Champion and Yamaha Motor Europe WorldSBK test rider Niccolò Canepa will join the McAMS Yamaha team for the final two rounds of the 2023 Bennetts British Superbike Championship.

The experienced Italian will partner race winner Jason O’Halloran in what will be the teams’ final outings in the championship before Steve Rodgers and his Raceways Motorcycles-run squad step back from running the official Yamaha outfit at the end of the year.

Fresh from his championship-winning Bol d’Or EWC finale, the 35-year-old will be looking to make the most of the challenge ahead having ridden both Donington Park and Brands Hatch in the past, including victories at both circuits in his title-winning 2007 European Superstock campaign.

The rider from Genoa, Italy, brings a wealth of experience and knowledge of the R1, having excelled in his role as Yamaha Motor Europe’s World Superbike test rider, helping Toprak Razgatlioglu and the PATA Yamaha team towards their successes in recent seasons.

A former champion in European Superstock and EWC, Canepa has contested, and enjoyed a lot of success, in races at the highest level, competing in the MotoGP World Championship, Moto2 World Championship, WorldSBK Championship, WorldSSP Championship, and the Superstock 600 European Championship.

Joining the YART Yamaha EWC Official Team in 2019 after his success with the GMT94 team, Canepa has since mounted multiple title-bids in the Endurance World Championship, amassing countless pole positions, podiums, and race wins, including a historic triumph at the Spa 24-Hour earlier this year which ended Yamaha's 14-year drought for 24-Hour success and helped them on their way to securing the 2023 Endurance World Championship.

Canepa said: “I’m excited to join the BSB grid next weekend. During my career, I have raced in many championships but never British Superbikes, so I’m excited and proud to join McAMS Yamaha for the final two races. I’ve always seen the team as the best in BSB so to be asked to join them for their final two races is special for me. I know the championship is difficult and the level is high, but I hope to bring the team some good results.”

Team Owner Steve Rodgers concluded: “In our time as Yamaha’s official British Superbike team, we’ve worked very closely with Yamaha Motor Europe’s Racing Department and we know Niccolò has been very keen to race in BSB for a while, but the right opportunity has not been there until now.

“He’s probably got more experience of riding the R1 in different specifications than anyone, from the full WorldSBK-spec machine, EWC, Italian championship and a whole host of other R1s given his work as the official test rider for Yamaha. He knows Donington well and has raced WorldSBK there in the recent past, while he’s not a stranger to Brands Hatch either from his European Superstock days. We’re looking forward to having him in the team and seeing what he makes of our R1.”