Ninth in Superpole for Can Oncu at Motorland Aragon

The tenth WorldSSP round got underway today at Motorland Aragon in Spain. In dry and sunny conditions, Can Oncu was on track for free practice this morning, using the session to work with his team to identify the best set-up for his ZX-6R.

With a time of 1’53”647, the Turkish rider placed an impressive second.

In the afternoon’s Superpole, which established the grid positions for tomorrow’s race, Oncu improved slightly on his best time, recording a 1’53”480 and qualifying ninth as a result.

This means that Oncu will start from the third row of the grid for tomorrow’s race, which will run over a distance of 15 laps.

Motorland Aragon – Alcaniz – Spain
Supersport World Championship
Free practice: 1) Manzi (Yamaha) – 2) Oncu (Kawasaki) – 3) Navarro (Ducati) – 4) Montella (Ducati) – 5) Schroetter (MV Agusta) – 6) Caricasulo (MV Agusta)

Superpole: 1) Huertas (Ducati) – 2) Mahias (Yamaha) – 3) Navarro (Ducati) – 4) Montella (Ducati) – 5) Van Straalen (Yamaha) – 6) Schroetter (MV Agusta) ….. 9) Oncu (Kawasaki)

Can Oncu: “Today we found a good base on which to build in terms of setting up the bike, and we were fast in both practice and Superpole. I can’t wait for tomorrow’s Race 1, which I think will be very hard fought. I’ll try to make a good start in order to keep with the frontrunners, and then we’ll see what happens. Thanks to the team for all their hard work.”

Tito Rabat makes progress in WorldSBK Practice at Aragon

Conditions at Motorland Aragon in Spain were dry and sunny for the start of the tenth WorldSBK round. After achieving positive results at the latest Cremona round, Tito Rabat and his team are keen to continue that trend on Spanish soil.

This morning saw the Spanish rider on track for free practice, a session in which he began to adapt the Ninja ZX-10RR KRT Factory Replica to the Aragon track. Tito placed nineteenth with a time of 1’51”584.

The second and final practice of the day ran in the afternoon, with Rabat stopping the clock on 1’50”411, improving by more than a second to round out the day P19.

The Spanish rider will be back on track tomorrow for Superpole and Race 1.

Motorland Aragon – Alcaniz – Spain
Superbike World Championship
Combined free practice results: 1) Gerloff (BMW) – 2) Razgatlioglu (BMW) – 3) Bulega (Ducati) – 4) Bautista (Ducati) – 5) Petrucci (Ducati) – ……19) Rabat (Kawasaki)

Tito Rabat: “We started by working on the setup of our bike, without looking for the lap time. In the afternoon we were than able to take more than a second off our time, cutting the gap to the frontrunners from two and a half seconds to 1.3. We’ve worked well today and will now analyse the data to take another step tomorrow.”

Can Oncu seventh in WorldSSP Race One

Motorland Aragon in Spain is staging the tenth WorldSSP round this weekend. Having placed second in practice before qualifying ninth in Superpole, Can Oncu today lined up on row three of the grid for race 1, which ran in sunny conditions and on a dry track.

The Turkish rider was able to demonstrate consistent pace which allowed him to battle as part of the chasing group and cross the line seventh, scoring solid points for the championship.

The gap of only ten seconds from the winner confirms Oncu’s excellent race and is one of the smallest gaps recorded this season.

Having set the sixth fastest lap time in Race 1, the Kawasaki Puccetti Racing rider will line up on row two of the grid for tomorrow’s final SSP race at Aragon.

Motorland Aragon – Alcaniz – Spain
Supersport World Championship
Race 1: 1) Huertas (Ducati) – 2) Manzi (Yamaha) – 3) Debise (Yamaha) – 4) Montella (Ducati) – 5) Navarro (Ducati) – 6) Mahias (Yamaha) – 7) Oncu (Kawasaki)

Can Oncu: “The race didn’t go too badly. We were able to close the gap to the front and things are continuing to improve. This is very positive. I’m also pleased because we’ve resolved some of the issues we were having in the past. We still need to work if we want to get closer to the front in tomorrow’s race. I hope we can do it and I’m feeling very positive.”

Tyre problems for Tito Rabat in Race One

The tenth WorldSBK round continues at Motorland Aragon in Spain. By the end of yesterday’s free practice session, Tito Rabat had set a best of 1’50”411 to place nineteenth.

Today, the Spanish rider took part in the final practice, working hard to prepare his Ninja ZX-10RR KRT Factory Replica for the Superpole, the session that establishes grid positions for Race 1.

With a time of 1’49”201 Tito qualified nineteenth, which meant he lined up on the seventh row of the grid for the first of the weekend’s WorldSBK races. The race was suspended with a red flag already on lap one after an incident for another rider left the track dirty. The race was restarted, and Rabat made a good start, immediately making up several positions. Unfortunately, from lap five on, his front tyre no longer guaranteed the necessary grip, and the Spaniard preferred to pit rather than risk a crash.

The Kawasaki Puccetti Racing rider will be back on track tomorrow for the Superpole Race and Race 2.

Motorland Aragon – Alcaniz – Spain
Superbike World Championship

Superpole: Superpole: 1) Bulega (Ducati) – 2) Iannone (Ducati) – 3) Bautista (Ducati) – 4) Petrucci (Ducati) – 5) Razgatlioglu (BMW) – 6) Lowes (Kawasaki) ……..19) Rabat (Kawasaki)

Race 1 – Gara1 – 1) Iannone (Ducati) – 2) Razgatlioglu (BMW) – 3) Gerloff (BMW) – 4) Bautista (Ducati) – 5) Petrucci (Ducati) – 6) Lecuona (Honda) ………. n.c.) Rabat (Kawasaki)

Tito Rabat: “I’m really sorry about today’s race. I started well but the race was immediately red flagged. In the restarted race, I again made up positions, but while fighting as part of the chasing group, my front tyre started to lose grip and I had to retire. I’m really sorry because there’s always something that prevents us from showing our full potential. But we won’t give up and will try to do our best in tomorrow’s races.”

Eleventh for Can Oncu in Race 2

The tenth WorldSSP round has now drawn to a close at Motorland Aragon in Spain.

After placing ninth in yesterday’s Superpole and seventh in Race 1, Can Oncu was back on track today for Race 2, which he started from the second row after setting the sixth fastest lap time in the first race.

The Turkish rider made a strong start, as is often the case, and was straight up into the leading group. As the race went on, he had more trouble keeping pace with the frontrunners and slipped back, eventually finishing just outside the top ten, in eleventh place.

The next Supersport World Championship race will take place on 11-13 October at the Estoril Circuit in Portugal.

Motorland Aragon – Alcaniz – Spain
Supersport World Championship
Race 2: 1) Montella (Ducati) – 2) Manzi (Yamaha) – 3) Navarro (Ducati) – 4) Debise (Yamaha) – 5) Huertas (Ducati) – 6) Booth-Amos (Triumph) ……….. 11) Oncu (Kawasaki)

Can Oncu: “I started well from sixth on the grid and in the first laps I kept up a very fast pace that allowed me to stick with the leaders. As the race went on, the level of grip dropped and I had to reduce my pace, losing some positions. Compared to yesterday, we solved some set-up problems, but we have to keep working if we want to be more competitive over the full race distance. I want to thank the team for all their support.”

Tito Rabat finishes in seventeenth in both races on Sunday at Aragon

The tenth Superbike World Championship at Motorland Aragon concluded with Sunday’s Superpole Race and Race 2.

Tito Rabat qualified nineteenth in yesterday’s Superpole but was then forced to retire from Race 1 due to a tyre issue.

Today, in cool, sunny conditions, the Spaniard headed out for the ten-lap Superpole Race and was able to complete this in seventeenth place.

The Spanish track appeared challenging for the Kawasaki this weekend and in Race 2 Rabat again had to settle for seventeenth, despite his best efforts to do more. A result that doesn’t reflect the potential of the rider and his bike.

The next WorldSBK round will play out over the weekend of 11-13 October at the Estoril Circuit in Portugal.

Motorland Aragon – Alcaniz – Spain
Superbike World Championship

Superpole Race: 1) Bautista (Ducati) – 2) Razgatlioglu (BMW) – 3) Bulega (Ducati) – 4) Iannone (Ducati) – 5) Gerloff (BMW) – 6) Petrucci (Ducati) ……. 17) Rabat (Kawasaki)

Race 2 – 1) Bautista (Ducati) – 2) Razgatlioglu (BMW) – 3) Bulega (Ducati) – 4) Iannone (Ducati) – 5) Gerloff (BMW) – 6) Petrucci (Ducati) ……… 17) Rabat (Kawasaki)

Tito Rabat: “We didn’t finish the Motorland weekend as we’d hoped. I struggled, in both races, to get into the kind of rhythm that would allow me to make up positions. I worked hard with my team, but we didn’t find a setup to suit this track, which has unusual grip. Now we’ll look ahead to Estoril, a track should better suit the characteristics of our Kawasaki and where we hope to do well.”