With the winter and official tests complete, the highly anticipated first round of the 2024 Supersport World Championship is now underway at the Phillip Island Circuit in Australia.
In cool and cloudy conditions, Kawasaki Puccetti Racing and its rider Can Oncu completed today’s free practice in eleventh place, having set a fastest time of 1’32”974. The new championship format means that Friday afternoon involves a forty-minute Superpole session, which establishes the grid positions for Saturday’s race. With a time of 1’32”887, Oncu improved on his morning’s best to finish twelfth overall. As a result, he will line up on row four of the grid for tomorrow’s race which will run over a distance of 18 laps, with a mandatory tyre change to be completed between the eighth and tenth lap.
Phillip Island – Australia
Supersport World Championship
Free practice: 1) Manzi (Yamaha) – 2) Schroetter (MV Agusta) – 3) Huertas (Ducati) – 4) Montella (Ducati) – 5) Sofuoglu (MV Agusta) ………… 11) Oncu (Kawasaki)
Superpole: 1) Huertas (Ducati) – 2) Montella (Ducati) – 3) Schroetter (MV Agusta) – 4) Manzi (Yamaha) – 5) Debise (Yamaha) – 6) Mahias (Yamaha) …… 12) Oncu (Kawasaki)
Can Oncu
“The weather didn’t help us today. This morning, we focused on bike setup and then this afternoon, just as I was pushing to improve on my best time, it started to rain. Twelfth on the grid is not the result I hoped to achieve, but it won’t prevent us from running a good race. We have the potential to do it. I want to thank the team for all their hard work.”
