The ninth round of the Superbike and Supersport world championships will take place this weekend at the Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours in France. It will be an important event for Kawasaki Puccetti Racing as the team welcomes Can Oncu back to the garage after more than four months’ absence. Having completed a successful test at the Cremona Circuit just a few days ago, Oncu is ready to dive back into WorldSSP. After such an extended break, the young Turk will need time before he is able to fully express his potential and that of the ZX-6R, but the main thing is that Can is now back on the path that was interrupted at Assen.
Tito Rabat is unable to compete in this ninth WorldSBK round as he is racing in the MotoE world championship (in accordance with agreements made prior to his return to Kawasaki Puccetti Racing).
Manuel Puccetti’s team will therefore replace him with Lucas Mahias. This is a home round for the French rider who will surely be highly motivated and keen to do well in front of the local fans.
At both this round and the upcoming Motorland Aragon round, the livery of Mahias’ ZX-10RR will bear the GiVi logo, in tribute to the historic Kawasaki Puccetti Racing sponsor.
The Nevers Magny Cours circuit is located in France, in Nievre department of the Burgundy region. It was built in 1960 but did not become internationally relevant until the 80s. Over time, the track has undergone a few modifications, all with the aim of creating more opportunities for overtaking. Some of the corners take the name of other tracks (Estoril, Adelaide, Imola, Nurburgring), in that they reproduce corners at those circuits. The overall track length is 4.411 km, and the layout incorporates seventeen turns, nine of which right-handers and eight left.
The full schedule for the Magny Cours round is available at this link:
Manuel Puccetti
“We’re so pleased to welcome back Can Oncu, who has unfortunately been forced to miss more than a third of the championship following his injury at Assen. We’re conscious of the fact that he isn’t yet back to full fitness, and so we’re definitely not expecting him to fight for the podium, but Can will be able to use these last four rounds to gradually rebuild his fitness and get back to being the talented and gutsy rider we all know. I’m happy to have Lucas Mahias with us in Superbike for what is his home round, and I’m pleased to be back at Magny Cours, an historic WorldSBK track where the spectators always show us such great support.”
Can Oncu
“I’m really happy to be back with Kawasaki Puccetti Racing at Magny Cours and to be able to ride my Ninja again. I’ve worked hard to solve the physical problems caused by my crash at Assen, and the test at Cremona proved that I’m ready to race again. I’m confident that I’ll gradually be able to rebuild my form and feeling with my bike, and I’m sure that the team will help me to achieve these goals.”
Lucas Mahias
“I’m excited to be able to ride the Kawasaki Puccetti Racing ZX-10RR in front of my home crowd! After having competed in a few Supersport rounds, I hope I’m able to quickly find feeling with the bike, but I know I can count on a great team and so I’m feeling optimistic. The level in Superbike is increasingly high, but I’ll try to score the best possible results to thank Manuel Puccetti for the faith he is once again putting in me.”
