The season in which Kawasaki Puccetti Racing will celebrate twenty years of racing is soon to kick off at the Motorland Aragón circuit. An anniversary that takes on particular significance as the Italian team prepares to battle on two fronts, in both the Supersport World Championship and the Superbike World Championship.
In a Supersport category that now looks dramatically different due to new regulations, the riders are Turk Can Oncu and Italian Yari Montella. Oncu is looking to take that final step up in quality that would allow him to fight for the world title, while Montella’s goal is to secure himself a place among the category’s frontrunners. A step up in quality is also predicted in Superbike, where Lucas Mahias will take on his second year in the reigning class.
Here below, Manuel Puccetti recalls the significant journey that his team has made over the last twenty years and outlines the goals for a season that will get underway at Motorland Aragón in Spain over the weekend of 9-10 April.
Manuel Puccetti: “During this 2022 season, we need to realise our ambitions and achieve our goals, the first of which is clearly to win the Supersport world title with Can Oncu. We are aware of the difficulties of course, not least balancing the bikes in line with the new regulation, but we’ve worked and are continuing to work hard to win with both Oncu and Yari Montella, who I deem to be a real talent who can fight at the front. In Superbike, the main new feature is our move over to Öhlins suspension, which will allow us to take a significant step forward, something we also expect from Lucas Mahias, now in his fourth year with our team. His goal needs to be top five. I’m pleased and proud to celebrate twenty years of our team. I remember all twenty seasons, as well as the sacrifices and significant effort we have always made. We started in the CIV, immediately becoming frontrunners before moving to the European Stock 600, where we won four consecutive titles with Franco Morbidelli, Marco Faccani, Axel Bassani and Toprak Razgatlioglu. Our winning streak then continued in WorldSBK with Kenan Sofuoglu, with whom we then created a partnership with the Turkish racing Academy to help develop young Turkish riders, like Toprak, who we supported all the way formfive years from Stock 600 to1000 and then Superbike, and with whom we won in all categories. A collaboration with Kenan and the Turkish Federation that is now looking to do the same thing for Can Oncu. But none of this would have been possible without the help of our sponsors, some of whom have been with us since our early racing days, while many others have joined us along the way. I thank them all and look forward to welcoming them in our new hospitality, now that the rules permit. Lastly, particular thanks go to the Italian Motorcycling Federation, the Turkish Motorcycling Federation and Kawasaki Europa, for the trust they have always put in us over the years”.
