Friday

Rabat makes constant progress in WorldSBK practice

Having been forced to miss the previous Magny Cours round, Tito Rabat was back on the ZX-10RR today for the first day of practice making up round ten of the Superbike World Championship, now underway at Motorland Aragon in Spain. This is the Spanish rider’s home track, which means Tito has the opportunity to race in front of his fans.

For this round, Rabat’s bike livery features the Gi.Vi. brand as main sponsor, the prestigious Italian firm that has long collaborated with Kawasaki Puccetti Racing.

This morning, in cool, sunny conditions, Rabat completed the first free practice session in seventeenth place with a time of 1’52”413. In the afternoon’s second session, Tito suffered a crash but was fortunately unhurt and able to improve on his earlier time. With a best of 1’51”971, the Spaniard rounded out day one in eighteenth place.

Motorland Aragon – Alcaniz – Spain
Superbike World Championship
Combined free practice results: 1) Bautista (Ducati) – 2) Rinaldi (Ducati) – 3) Petrucci (Ducati) – 4) Rea (Kawasaki) – 5) Lecuona (Honda) …… 18) Rabat (Kawasaki)

Tito Rabat: “The morning’s first practice went quite well. In the afternoon I rushed things and crashed at turn 12 but was fortunately not hurt. I then improved but the most important thing is that we understand the direction in which to work in order to score good results in both Superpole and the first of the weekend’s race. Big thanks to the whole team for all their help.”

Oncu seeks the best set up in WorldSSP practice Aragon

The tenth round of the Supersport World Championship is now underway at Motorland Aragon in Spain. At the previous Magny Cours round, Kawasaki Puccetti Racing welcomed rider Can Oncu back to the garage, the young Turk having been absent since April due to injury sustained in a race 2 crash at Assen. Oncu is still not fully fit, but the doctors have allowed him to return to racing as a way to accelerate his recovery. In this morning’s first practice, the Turk set a time of 1’56”963 to place twenty-third. The afternoon’s session allowed the rider to improve by a second (1’55”960), which meant he finished the day in twenty-second place.

Motorland Aragon – Alcaniz – Spain
Supersport World Championship
Combined free practice results: 1) Bulega (Ducati) – 2) Caricasulo (Ducati) – 3) Manzi Yamaha) – 4) Navarro (Yamaha) – 5) Huertas (Kawasaki) ….….. 22) Oncu (Kawasaki)

Can Oncu: “It hasn’t been an easy day, although we’ve all done our best. I hope I can do better tomorrow and that my injured arm allows me to perform, because I’m experiencing a few problems at this track. I feel optimistic anyway and know that we will give it our all in the races to try and improve on the results achieved at Magny Cours.”

Saturday

A technical problem stops Rabat in WorldSBK Race One at Aragon

Motorland Aragon in Spain was the stage for the first race of the tenth Superbike World Championship round today. Tito Rabat completed the free practice sessions yesterday with a time of 1’51”971, which saw him place eighteenth overall.

The Spanish rider’s ZX-10RR features the Gi.Vi. brand as main sponsor this weekend. The prestigious Italian motorcycle accessories company is a long-time sponsor of Kawasaki Puccetti Racing.
In cool and sunny conditions, the Kawasaki Puccetti Racing was on track this morning for the third and final free practice, useful in preparing his Ninja for the subsequent Superpole.

During the qualifying session, Rabat was able to set a 1’51”040, improving by almost a second and closing in nineteenth position. This meant that he began the afternoon’s race from row seven of the grid. Luck was not on the Spaniard’s side in the race however, as a technical problem forced him to slow down and eventually retire just a few laps into the race.

Motorland Aragon – Alcaniz – Spain
Superbike World Championship

Superpole: Superpole: 1) Rea (Kawasaki) – 2) Bautista (Ducati) – 3) Razgatlioglu (Yamaha) – 4) Locatelli (Yamaha) – 5) Rinaldi (Ducati) – 6) Lecuona (Honda) ………. 19) Rabat (Kawasaki)

Race 1: 1) Rinaldi (Ducati) – 2) Razgatlioglu (Yamaha) – 3) Rea (Kawasaki) – 4) Locatelli (Yamaha) – 5) Petrucci (Ducati) – 6) Oettl (Ducati) ……… DNF) Rabat (Kawasaki)

Tito Rabat: “When everything seems OK and it finally looks like we can score a strong result, it seems like we always come in for some bad luck. Today I had to stop due to a technical problem that prevented me from exploiting all the work I’d done with the team during practice and Superpole. Anyway, we’ll turn the page and look ahead, with the aim of trying to make up for this in tomorrow’s races.”

Oncu’s progress continues in WorldSSP Race One at Aragon

Conditions were sunny at Motorland Aragon in Spain for day two of the action making up this tenth WorldSSP championship round.

Yesterday Can Oncu completed the two free practice sessions in twenty-second position, with a time of 1’55”960. The Kawasaki Puccetti Racing rider only returned at the latest Magny-Cours round after a long break owing to a left arm injury sustained in a crash at Assen back in April. Although he is not yet back to complete physical fitness, Can gave it his all again today during Superpole and the subsequent first race.

In Superpole the young Turk was able to improve on his best lap by more than a second to finish twentieth with a time of 1’54”699. This meant that he lined up on row seven of the grid for the afternoon’s race, which ran over a distance of fifteen laps. Can made a good start and got into a rhythm that allowed him to climb up through the field. Despite this track being largely made up of left-hand turns, which ask more of his injured arm, Oncu was nevertheless able to conclude the race P17, just a few seconds from the points zone.

Motorland Aragon – Alcaniz – Spain
Supersport World Championship

Superpole: 1) Bulega (Ducati) – 2) Montella (Ducati) – 3) Caricasulo (Ducati) – 4) Schroetter (MV Agusta) – 5) Manzi (Yamaha) – 6) De Rosa (Ducati) ………. 20) Oncu (Kawasaki)

Race 1 – 1) Bulega (Ducati) – 2) Schroetter (MV Agusta) – 3) Montella (Ducati) – 4) Caricasulo (Ducati) – De Rosa (Ducati) – 7 Sofuoglu (MV Agusta) ……. 17) Oncu (Kawasaki)

Can Oncu: “The race result doesn’t reflect where we’d normally be, but we’re not yet in a position to fight at the front. The positive side is that, with respect to the previous Magny Cours races, we finished ten seconds closer to the leaders. This confirms our progress. With its many left-hand corners, this track is really putting me to the test physically, but tomorrow I’ll try to further close the gap to the quickest guys. I’m working hard to get back to full fitness and my usual levels and am continuing to take steps forward, thanks also to the amazing support of my team.”

Sunday

Two positive WorldSBK races for Rabat at Motorland Aragon

Conditions were cool and sunny at Motorland Aragon in Spain for the final day of the tenth WorldSBK round. Tito Rabat, having qualified nineteenth in yesterday’s Superpole, was forced to retire from race 1 due to a technical problem.

This morning the Spaniard lined up for the Superpole race, which runs over a distance of just ten laps. His bike features a special livery dedicated to historic sponsor GiVi, which has long supported Manuel Puccetti’s team. Starting from row seven, Tito was able to make up two positions in the limited laps available, crossing the line seventeenth.

Race 2 got underway in the afternoon and ran over eighteen laps. Rabat did not make the fastest start and was lying twentieth through the opening laps. Once he got into a rhythm, the Kawasaki Puccetti Racing rider climbed back up to close the race in eighteenth place, first of the Kawasaki private riders.

The next WorldSBK round will take place from 29 September to 1 October at the Autodromo do Algarve in Portimao, Portugal

Motorland Aragon – Alcaniz – Spain
Superbike World Championship

Superpole Race: 1) Bautista (Ducati) – 2) Rea (Kawasaki) – 3) Razgatlioglu (Yamaha) – 4) Locatelli (Yamaha) – 5) Rinaldi (Ducati) – 6) Lecuona (Honda) …….. 17) Rabat (Kawasaki)

Race 2: 1) Bautista (Ducati) – 2) Razgatlioglu (Yamaha) – 3) Rinaldi (Ducati) – 4) Rea (Kawasaki) – 5) Bassani (Ducati) – 6) Lecuona (Honda) – 7) Oettl (Ducati) …….. 18) Rabat (Kawasaki)

Tito Rabat: “In the Superpole Race I immediately pushed hard but over just ten laps I couldn’t do more than seventeenth place. In the second long race I struggled to find good feeling with the bike but was nevertheless able to make up a few places. We need to continue to work to understand how to best exploit the potential of our bike. A big thanks to the team for their great week this weekend.”

Oncu seventeenth again in WorldSSP Race 2 at Aragon

Round ten of the Supersport World Championship has concluded today at Motorland Aragon in Alcaniz, Spain. Yesterday morning, Can Oncu competed in Superpole, in which he finished P20, before lining up for race 1. Despite not yet being fully fit, having recently returned following serious injury, the young Turk concluded the race in seventeenth place.

Today Oncu was back out for the second Supersport race, which rounded out this Aragon round. He made a good start which allowed him to maintain his position through the opening stages. As the race went on, Can was able to maintain consistent pace and make up a few places, crossing the line seventeenth once more.

The next WorldSSP round will take place over the weekend of 29 September-1 October at the Autodromo do Algarve in Portimao, Portugal

Motorland Aragon – Alcaniz – Spain
Supersport World Championship

Race 2 – 1) Bulega (Ducati) – 2) Manzi (Yamaha) – 3) Caricasulo (Ducati) – 4) Sofuoglu (MV Agusta) – 5) Schroetter (MV Agusta) – 6) Navarro (Yamaha) ……….. 17) Oncu (Kawasaki)

Can Oncu: “Another difficult race, but the positive thing is that I’m continuing to feel better on the bike. We knew this track would be really tough with all the left-hand turns, but we nevertheless managed to finish both races not far from the points. Our thoughts now turn to the next round at Portimao, a track where I’m we can do a lot better. Thanks to the team for all their precious support.”