Oncu rides through the pain to finish tenth in the Superpole at Jerez

Conditions at the Jerez de la Frontera circuit in Spain were cool and sunny as the twelfth WOrldSSP round got underway today.

After injury forced him to sit out the recent races at Estoril in Portugal, Can Oncu was back on track today for the first free practice, his goal to both evaluate his state of health and work with the team on the setup of his ZX-6R. The Turkish rider achieved both objectives, gritting his teeth and surprising everyone by setting a 1’42”469, the fastest time of the session.

Deemed fit to continue by the doctors, Oncu returned to the track for the Superpole but was unfortunately unable to improve on his best of the morning. Can placed tenth with a time of 1’42”711, which means he will start from the fourth row of the grid for the first of the weekend’s races.

Circuito di Jerez de la Frontera – Spain
Supersport World Championship
Free practice: 1) Oncu (Kawasaki) – 2) Carcasilo (MV Agusta) – 3) Manzi (Yamaha)- 4) Bendsneyder (MV Agusta) – 5) Mahias (Yamaha) – 6) Schroetter (MV Agusta)

Superpole: 1) Huertas (Ducati) – 2) Navarro (Ducati) – 3) Schroetter (MV Agusta) – 4) Manzi (Yamaha) – 5) Caricasulo (MV Agusta) – 6) Montella (Ducati) …….. 10) Oncu (Kawasaki)

Can Oncu: “I immediately had good feeling with the bike this morning. My knee injury definitely bothered me, but I gritted my teeth and was able to place first in practice. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to put together a fast lap in Superpole and finished tenth, but I’m confident ahead of tomorrow’s race because I know our potential is greater than today’s result.”

Two constructive WorldSBK practices for Rabat at Jerez

The twelfth and final WorldSBK round got underway today at Jerez de la Frontera in Spain.

At what is a home track for the rider, Tito Rabat headed out for first practice in cool, sunny conditions. A useful session for the Spaniard, who worked with his technical staff to set up his Ninja ZX-10RR KRT Factory Replica and concluded the practice in nineteenth place with a time of 1’41”492.

In the afternoon’s second session, Tito was able to improve on his best of FP1, setting a 1’40”770 with which he placed eighteenth.

Tomorrow Rabat will be back out for Superpole and Race 1.

Circuito di Jerez de la Frontera – Spain
Superbike World Championship
Combined free practice results: 1) Rinaldi (Ducati) – 2) Bulega (Ducati) – 3) Razgatlioglu (BMW) – 4) Petrucci (Ducati) – 5) Rea (Yamaha) – 6) Van der Mark (BMW …..…18) Rabat (Kawasaki)

Tito Rabat: “The weekend started well, we were fast and consistent, and I found good race pace. For tomorrow we need to continue with this progression and take another step forward with the setup of my Ninja. We’re just a little over a second from the leaders and it will be important to limit the gap in this way also in the race. The team is working well as always and this leaves me confident for the rest of this final round.”

A difficult WorldSSP Race One for Oncu at Jerez

Conditions at Jerez de la Frontera in Spain were dry and sunny for the second day of this final WorldSSP round. Carrying injury from the previous Estoril round, Can Oncu was passed fit to compete at Jerez by the circuit doctors. After completing one free practice, he was able to qualify tenth in Superpole.

This result meant that he lined up on the fourth row of the grid for the afternoon’s 17-lap race.

Oncu started well when the lights went out on the race and was quickly up into the front positions. Unfortunately, an incident on lap three saw both Oncu and another rider go down through turn 13. Able to rejoin the race, the Turkish rider was handed a double long lap penalty after having been deemed responsible for the crash. The penalty served, Can was making up positions but preferred to return to the garage and change tyres. Returning to the track, he was able to set the second fastest lap of the race, which means he will start tomorrow’s Race 2, the final race of the 2024 WorldSSP season, from the front row of the grid.

Circuito de Jerez – Spain
Supersport World Championship
Race 1: 1) Manzi (Yamaha) – 2) Montella (Ducati) – 3) Huertas (Ducati) – 4) Schroetter (MV Agusta) – 5) Mahias (Yamaha) – 6) Booth-Amos (Triumph) ………. 23) Oncu (Kawasaki)

Can Oncu: “I made a mistake and crashed but up until that point, I’d been in the front group fighting with the fastest guys. Even though I received a double long lap penalty, I then came into the garage and put in fresh tyres. That done, I went back out on track and set the second fastest lap of the race, which means I’ll start Race 2 from the front row. I want to enjoy tomorrow’s race and seize this final chance of the year to complete a strong race.”

Rabat just misses the points zone in WorldSBK Race One at Jerez

The twelfth and final round of the 2024 WorldSBK championship is in play at Jerez de la Frontera in Spain. Kawasaki Puccetti Racing rider Tito Rabat was already on track yesterday for the two practice sessions, which he finished eighteenth with a time of 1’40”770.

This morning, in sunny conditions, the Spaniard was on track for the Superpole, which establishes the grid positions for the weekend’s first two races.

With a time of 1’39”248, Rabat set the eighteenth fastest time, which meant he lined up on the sixth row of the grid for the first of the weekend’s 20-lap races.

Getting away well when the lights went out, Tito moved into the group fighting for the top ten but unfortunately was unable to find the kind of pace that would allow him to stay there. Losing contact with his closest rivals, he slipped to sixteenth across the line, just missing out on the points zone.

Rabat will be back on track tomorrow for the Superpole Race and final Superbike race of the 2024 championship.

Circuito de Jerez – Spain
Superbike World Championship

Superpole: Superpole: 1) Bulega (Ducati) – 2) Razgatlioglu (BMW) – 3) Lowes (Kawasaki) – 4) Petrucci (Ducati) – 5) Lecona (Honda) – 6) Locatelli (Yamaha) ……. 18) Rabat (Kawasaki)

Race 1: 1) Bulega (Ducati) – 2) Razgatlioglu (BMW) – 3) Locatelli (Yamaha) – 4) Lowes (Kawasaki) – 5) Lecuona (Honda) – 6) Van der Mark (BMW)……….16) Rabat (Kawasaki)

Tito Rabat: “I started well and tried to stick with the chasing group, but I soon realised that I couldn’t match their pace and started to lose positions. In the end, I just missed out on the points zone, finishing P16, but I’m not happy because I know we have the potential to do more. We need to analyse the data to understand how to improve the set-up of our bike for tomorrow’s races.”

Oncu crashes while leading the second WorldSSP race in Jerez

The twelfth and final round of the WorldSSP championship has concluded today at the Jerez Circuit in Spain. After qualifying tenth in Superpole yesterday, Can Oncu crashed in yesterday’s race 1 and was then slowed by two long lap penalties.

In warm, sunny conditions, the young Turkish rider was back on track this afternoon for Race 2, which he began from the first row of the grid thanks to the lap time he set yesterday. He made a very strong start that allowed him to immediately move into the lead. Unfortunately, just a few corners in, Can crashed and was unable to return to the track, though fortunately he was unhurt. This was the last race for the Kawasaki ZX-6R, which will be replaced by the new 2025 Ninja ZX-6R on track next year.

The version ridden for the last time today by Can Oncu debuted in the Supersport World Championship in 2009. In this category, Manuel Puccetti’s team achieved two world titles with rider Kenan Sofuoglu, and a total of 69 podiums and 23 victories, with riders of the caliber of Randy Krummenacher, Lucas Mahias, Phillip Oettl, Yari Montella and with Can Oncu.

The same bike was also used in the European Stock 600 Championship, in which Kawasaki Puccetti Racing amassed four titles with Franco Morbidelli, Marco Faccani, Toprak Razgatlioglu and Axel Bassani, for a total of 31 podiums and 16 wins.

Circuito de Jerez – Spain
Supersport World Championship
Race 2: 1) Manzi (Yamaha) – 2) Debise (Yamaha) – 3) Bendsneyder – 4) Huertas (Ducati) – 5) Schroetter (MV Agusta) – 6) Navarro (Ducati) ……….. DNF) Oncu (Kawasaki)

Can Oncu: “Unfortunately, my race didn’t last long today. I was focused and motivated to score a strong result as I headed out to start. I got away well and moved into the lead, but I overdid it and crashed, unable to rejoin the race. I’m really sorry because this was my last race with Kawasaki Puccetti Racing and I’d have liked to score a good result. I want to thank Manuel and the whole team for these years together, an experience I won’t forget.”

Rabat fifteenth in both of Sunday’s WorldSBK races at Jerez

With Sunday’s Superpole Race and second Superbike race, the twelfth and final WorldSBK round has drawn to a close at the Jerez Circuit in Spain.

This was Kawasaki Puccetti Racing’s final season as a privateer team, as in 2025 they will become the factory Kawasaki team in the production-derived series.

Yesterday, Tito Rabat achieved eighteenth place in Superpole, before crossing the line sixteenth in Race 1, just missing out on points.

Today the Spaniard was back out for the Superpole Race, which is a ten-lap sprint. He made a good start and in the limited laps available, Tito climbed up to finish the race in fifteenth place.

In Race 2, the last of the 2024 season, Rabat maintained a good pace, making up places and reaching the points zone. He could have probably fought for the top ten had the race not been red-flagged during the course of lap seventeen. Considering this was the last race of the season and a home round for Tito, the rider stopped to celebrate with his fans and failed to return his bike to the garage within the five-minute cut off time dictated by the regulation. This unfortunately meant that Rabat was disqualified.

Circuito de Jerez – Spain
Superbike World Championship

Superpole Race: 1) Bulega (Ducati) – 2) Razgatlioglu (BMW) – 3) Lowes (Kawasaki) – 4) Petrucci (Ducati) – 5) Locatelli (Yamaha) – 6) Van der Mark (BMW) …….15) Rabat (Kawasaki)

Race 2 – 1) Razgatlioglu (BMW) – 2) Bulega (Ducati) – 3) Van der Mark (BMW) – 4) Iannone (Ducati) – 5) Lowes (Kawasaki) – 6) Petrucci (Ducati) ……. 15) Rabat (Kawasaki)

Tito Rabat: “We’ve completed our championship with two positive races, in line with what we did at the last few rounds, where we were able to reach a level of competitiveness that saw us score our best results of the season. We’ve constantly moved closer to the frontrunners, and this has been our biggest achievement. Today we ran two good races, completing both in fifteenth place. In race 2, the fact I stopped to celebrate with my fans led to me being disqualified for not having returned the bike to the garage in time, but this does not cancel out our result. It’s been a challenging season but one that has brought many positives, for which I want to thank Manuel Puccetti and all the team’s technicians.”