The sun was out at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya for the first day of action making up this second WorldSSP championship round. Rider Can Oncu likes the Spanish track and is highly motivated to score strong results.
During the morning’s first free practice, the young Turkish rider proved very competitive and placed already third with a time of 1’44”999.
The new WorldSSP format means that Superpole runs on Friday afternoon, the 40-minute session establishing the grid positions for the two races. With a very impressive time of 1’44”47, Oncu finished the session second, which translates into a front row start for tomorrow’s first race, which will run over 18 laps.
Circuit de Catalunya – Barcelona – Spain
Supersport World Championship
Free practice: 1) Montella (Ducati) – 2) Schroetter (MV Agusta) – 3) Oncu Kawasaki) – 4) Mahias (Yamaha) – 5) Navarro (Triumph) – 5) Caricasulo (MV Agusta)
Superpole: 1) Huertas (Ducati) – 2) Oncu (Kawasaki) – 3) Manzi (Yamaha) – 4) Mahias (Yamaha) – 5) Schroetter (MV Agusta) – 6) Montella (Ducati) – 7) Debise (Yamaha)
Can Oncu
“The Superpole went really well, better than I expected because I’m usually faster in the race than in qualifying, but here I’ve found really good feeling with my bike and feel comfortable around the track. When I was in a bad way after my crash last year at Assen, with all the physical problems that caused, Manuel Puccetti, Toprak Razgatlioglu and Kenan Sofuoglu told me that I’d be back racing soon enough. And they were right – I’m back and am stronger than ever! I’m not yet fully fit, but I’ll get there, and tomorrow I’ll do all I can to score a strong race result.”
