The 2021 FIM Supersport World Championship grid will look a little bit different this weekend as Dominique Aegerter (Ten Kate Racing Yamaha) will be drenched in the iconic Ten Kate Racing livery of old. The Dutch team – the most successful in World Supersport history – took the titles in 2002, 2003 and 2004 with the legendary yellow livery, which they also progressed to WorldSBK with in 2004 with Chris Vermeulen. Now, it is back for Aegerter whilst also giving a nod to Yamaha’s history, with it being the classic Yamaha America colours. The colours saw Kenny Roberts take them to the 1978, 1979 and 1980 500cc Grand Prix titles, whilst Valentino Rossi and Colin Edwards also sported them in the 50th anniversary of Yamaha back in 2005 at the US GP at Laguna Seca.
It’s a bold and striking statement for Ten Kate Racing, who have nine World Championships in WorldSSP, as they make their comeback to their home round for the first time since 2018 and the first time with Yamaha. In 2019, the event was before the team made their comeback and in 2020, the round didn’t happen due to the COVID-19 pandemic. #ProjectYellow therefore brings Ten Kate Racing further into the spotlight, as they are already the Championship leaders by 17 points.
Commenting on his new look for the fourth round of the WorldSSP season, Dominique Aegerter said: “You couldn’t have made me happier than with this beautiful livery. Yellow is my favourite colour, and I can't wait to ride with this livery. Ten Kate Racing has a rich history with these colours and has achieved a lot of success with it. It’s a special weekend for the team as they have a home race at Assen again for the first time in a long time. I hope to get strong results with this beautiful Yamaha R6 livery at Assen!”
Team manager Kervin Bos also shared his delight and excitement: “It’s our first home race as Ten Kate Racing Yamaha; we wanted to do something special at Assen and we have done that with #ProjectYellow. This livery actually has everything; it combines the rich history of Ten Kate Racing, but also of Yamaha, and it symbolizes our future together. Because our Championship leader Dominique Aegerter will ride with this livery just once, we leave a historic period behind and then will officially continue with blue colours of Yamaha. We hope that the fans and our partners can appreciate this special project. Of course, we won’t forget Galang. For him we will organise something special during his home race in Indonesia.”
