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.”
