Oncu’s superpole performance at Most puts him on the fourth row for the race

For Can Oncu and Kawasaki Puccetti Racing the sixth WorldSSP round at Most, in the Czech Republic, did not get off to the best start.

The Turkish rider was out this morning for free practice, with the intention of preparing for the afternoon’s Superpole. Unfortunately, just four minutes in, Can suffered a crash in which he damaged his Kawasaki ZX-6R. The Czech track has no internal road allowing bikes and emergency vehicle to reach the garages and as a result Oncu’s Ninja did not return to the garage until the session ended. With a time of 1’36”097 set right at the start of the session, Can placed fourteenth.

The afternoon’s Superpole established the starting grid for Saturday’s WorldSSP race. Despite not having had the chance to work on bike setup during practice, Oncu gritted his teeth and improved on his time. With a best of 1’32”962, the young Turkish rider closed Superpole in twelfth place, which means a fourth row start for Race 1.

Autodrom Most – Czech Republic
Supersport World Championship
Free practice: 1) Montella (Ducati) – 2) Debise (Yamaha) – 3) Manzi (Yamaha) – 4) Huertas (Ducati) – 5) Schroetter (MV Agusta) – 6) Caricasulo (MV Agusta)…………14) Oncu (Kawasaki)

Superpole: 1) Montella (Ducati) – 2) Huertas (Ducati) – 3) Manzi (Yamaha) – 4) Debise (Yamaha) – 5) Caricasulo (MV Agusta) – 6) Sofuoglu (MV Agusta) …… 12) Oncu (Kawasaki)

Can Oncu: “We came here knowing we needed to find a good setup and, despite the setback we had this morning in practice, I’m pleased because we were able to find that in Superpole. We still need a little more to run up front but we’re only 1.3 seconds from first and tomorrow I hope to be able to make that up in the race. I’m highly motivated and want to be back at the sharp end. Thanks to the team for all their help today.”

Reassuring progress for Tito Rabat in WorldSBK practice at Most

Sunny skies welcomed Kawasaki Puccetti Racing and rider Tito Rabat to the Autodrom Most for today’s first day of practice making up round six of the WorldSBK championship.

The riders and technicians are busy adapting the Ninja ZX-10RR KRT Factory Replica to the winding Czech track. During FP1, Rabat stopped the clock on 1’33”609, placing eighteenth as a result.

During the afternoon’s FP2, and despite improving on his time (1’32”962), Tito consolidated eighteenth position, just 1.4 seconds from provisional pole.

The Spaniard will be back on track tomorrow for Superpole and Race 1.

Autodrom Most – Czech Republic
Superbike World Championship
Combined free practice results: 1) Razgatlioglu (BMW) – 2) Bautista (Ducati) – 3) Rea (Yamaha) – 4) Lowes (Kawasaki) – 5) Bulega (Ducati)………18) Rabat (Kawasaki)

Tito Rabat: “We’ve done a good job today. In FP1 we found a competitive setup that allowed me to improve on my times in FP2. We’re not far from the front but need to take another step if we want to get to where we believe we should be. This is an important weekend because we’re all really determined to score good results.”

After contact in Race One Can Oncu recovers well to finish just outside the top 10

Conditions were hot and sunny at Autodrom Most in the Czech Republic today, ideal conditions for day two of the sixth WorldSSP round.

Yesterday Can Oncu was unlucky during free practice, crashing just a few minutes into the session and missing out on the chance to use the track time to set up his Ninja ZX-6R. The Turkish rider and Kawasaki Puccetti Racing technical staff were nevertheless able to do a good job, making up for the time they lost in the morning as they adapted the bike to the winding Czech track. With a time of 1’35”504, Oncu finished twelfth and so lined up on row four of the grid for the afternoon’s 19-lap race.

The Turkish rider started the race well but on lap two, after coming into contact with another rider, he was forced into making a mistake, running off track. Returning to the action at the back of the field, Oncu lapped consistently with times in line with those of the frontrunners, working his way back up to eleventh place, to finish just outside the top ten.

The second and final race of this sixth WorldSSP round will take place at the Most circuit tomorrow.

Autodrom Most – Czech Republic
Supersport World Championship

Race 1: 1) Huertas (Ducati) – 2) Debise (Yamaha) – 3) Manzi (Yamaha – 4) Montella (Ducati) – 5) Caricasulo (MV Agusta) – 6) Mahias (Yamaha) …… 11) Oncu (Kawasaki)

Can Oncu: “To avoid contact, I was forced to make a mistake, running wide at turn 1. This cost me a lot of positions. It’s hard for me to accept what happened because we could have run a much better race. But these things can happen in racing. The positive is that we found a great set-up today. I can’t wait for tomorrow’s race when we’ll do our best to run up front. We can be competitive.”

Tito Rabat just misses out on points in Race One

The sixth WorldSBK round continued today at the Autodrom Most in the Czech Republic. On Friday Kawasaki Puccetti Racing rider Tito Rabat completed two free practices, in which he worked with his technicians to set up the Ninja ZX-10RR KRT Factory Replica.

This morning, after FP3, the Spaniard was back out for Superpole, which established the starting grid for the subsequent Race 1. With a time of 1’32”113, Tito closed nineteenth and so started on the seventh row of the grid for Race 1.

The first race of this sixth round got underway this afternoon. Rabat did not make a particularly fast start but as the race went on he was able to pick up the pace and fight as part of the chasing group before crossing the line seventeenth just outside the points zone.

Kawasaki Puccetti Racing will round out the sixth WorldSBK round tomorrow with the Superpole race and Race 2.

Autodromo di Most – Czech Republic
Superbike World Championship

Superpole: 1) Razgatlioglu (BMW) – 2) Iannone (Ducati) – 3) Lowes (Ducati) – 4) Bulega (Ducati) – 5) Gardner (Yamaha) – 6) Petrucci (Ducati) ……… 19) Rabat (Kawasaki)

Race 1 – 1) Razgatlioglu (BMW) – 2) Petrucci (Ducati) – 3) Iannone (Ducati) – 4) Bautista (Ducati) – 5) Gardner (Yamaha) ……… 17) Rabat (Kawasaki)

Tito Rabat: “I gave it my all again today and pushed hard from start to finish. I fought for a long while with Bassani on the factory Kawasaki but in the end, I couldn’t do more than seventeenth. Unfortunately, we still have some problems to solve and that’s preventing me from scoring better results. I think it would have been hard for me to do more today and I’ll definitely continue to do my best in the next races, with the help of my team.”

Tenth for Can Oncu in WorldSSP Race 2 at Most

The sixth WorldSSP round has concluded today at the Autodrom Most in the Czech Republic.

Yesterday, Can Oncu completed Race 1. Despite a contact in the early stages that caused him to lose a lot of ground, the Turkish rider finished in eleventh place, just missing the top ten but nevertheless scoring points for the championship.

This afternoon, Oncu was back out for Race 2, which ran in hot, sunny conditions. Making a rapid getaway from row five, the young rider gave it his all, battling as part of the chasing group and crossing the line tenth to pocket more precious points.

The next WorldSSP round will run on 9-11 August at the Autodromo do Algarve in Portimao, Portugal.

Autodrom Most – Czech Republic
Supersport World Championship
Race 1: 1) Huertas (Ducati) – 2) Manzi (Yamaha – 3) Montella (Ducati) – 4) Debise (Yamaha) – 5) Navarro (Ducati) – 6) Caricasulo (MV Agusta) ……….. 10) Oncu (Kawasaki).

Can Oncu: “It was a difficult race. I started well and the setup we found yesterday allowed me to maintain a consistently fast pace. I wasn’t able to make up many positions and score the kind of result I wanted, but I guess we couldn’t do much more starting from the fifth row. With respect to Donington the bike worked better and so I’m confident for the next round at Portimao. A big thanks to the team for all their great work here at Most.”

The Most round concludes with a positive result for Tito Rabat

Conditions were hot and sunny at Autodrom Most where the sixth WorldSBK round has now concluded.

Yesterday, Tito Rabat and Kawasaki Puccetti Racing took part in Superpole at the winding Czech track, with the Spaniard placing nineteenth. Tito then went on to finish nineteenth in Saturday’s Race 1.

After this morning’s warm-up, Rabat was back out for the ten-lap Superpole Race. The Spaniard made a good start and was able to maintain a consistent pace that saw him cross the line fifteenth.

Race 2 ran in the early afternoon over a distance of 22 laps. Rabat again started well and was able to get into a good rhythm, which allowed him to finish in fourteenth place and score two points for the standings.

The next WorldSBK round will take place on 9-11 August at the Autodromo do Algarve in Portimao, in Portugal

Autodrom Most – Czech Republic
Superbike World Championship

Superpole Race: 1) Razgatlioglu (BMW) – 2) Bulega (Ducati) – 3) Lowes (Kawasaki) – 4) Petrucci (Ducati) – 5) Gardner (Yamaha) – 6) Locatelli (Yamaha) …… 15) Rabat (Kawasaki)

Race 2 – 1) Razgatlioglu (BMW) – 2) Bulega (Ducati) – 3) Locatelli (Yamaha) – 4) Gardner (Yamaha) – 5) Van der Mark (BMW) – 6) Rea (Yamaha) ……… 14) Rabat (Kawasaki)

Tito Rabat: “We had a positive race today, not only in terms of the result but because we were able to close the gap to the front, part of the main chasing group from start to finish. I made a good start in both the Superpole Race and Race 2 and gave it 200%. I worked really well with the team and my feeling with the bike has improved. We need to continue like this because we’re on the right path, and not far from the kind of results we want.”