Kawasaki Puccetti Racing is at the San Juan Villicum circuit in Argentina for round ten of the Supersport World Championship. While Can Oncu knows the track well, so much so that he was on the podium twice last year (second and third), this is Yari Montella’s first visit to the Argentinian track, something that of course conditioned his performance today.
In the first session that took place in sunny conditions, the young Turkish rider placed second with a time of 1’42”457, while the Italian, slowed by a small technical setback, stopped the clock on1’44”510 to finish seventeenth.
The second practice played out in the afternoon. Oncu didn’t manage to improve (1’42”563) and rounded out day one in fourth place overall in the combined standings. Montella was able to improve on his earlier time and moved into sixteenth overall with a best of 1’43”915.
Tomorrow’s WorldSSP schedule will see riders competing in Superpole and the weekend’s first race.
Circuito San Juan Villicum – Argentina – Supersport World Championship
Combined free practice results: 1) Aegerter (Yamaha) – 2) Caricasulo (Ducati) – 3) Cluzel (Yamaha) – 4) Oncu (Kawasaki) – 5) De Rosa (Ducati) – 6) Manzi (Triumph)……… 16) Montella (Kawasaki)
Can Oncu
“The day’s been positive. I think we’ve done a good job. There are still some things we need to improve, and we’ll try to do that tomorrow morning. I’m optimistic going into the weekend because this is one of my favourite tracks. I can’t wait for the race to start because I have a good feeling with my bike and I’ll do all I can to reach the highest step of the podium. Thanks to the team for their important help.”
Yari Montella
“Aside from the overall position, it’s not been a bad day. This is a brand-new track for me and unfortunately this morning we also had a technical issue that caused me to lose half the session. This afternoon I tried to push a bit and made a few mistakes, but I’ve understood a lot about the track and my bike. Now we know where to intervene to improve. A big thanks to the team.”
