Friday

Mahais thirteenth in WorldSBK free practice in Barcelona

Conditions were warm and sunny at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya in Spain today as the eighth round of the Superbike World Championship got underway. Kawasaki Puccetti Racing and its rider Lucas Mahias head into this event with the aim of continuing the growth trend seen in recent rounds and reaching the top ten in all three races.
This morning the French rider was out on track for the first free practice, during which he worked on the set-up of his ZX-10RR together with his technical staff. With a time of 1’43”631, Mahias finished in seventeenth position.

The second practice took place in the afternoon. Lucas improved on his best time by almost a second to finish thirteenth in the combined standings with a 1’42”737.
Tomorrow will see Mahias compete in Superpole and the first race of this Catalan race weekend.

Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya – Spain – Superbike World Championship
Combined free practice results: 1) Lecuona (Honda) – 2) Rinaldi (Ducati) – 3) Razgatlioglu (Yamaha) – 4) Bautista (Ducati) – 5) Rea (Kawasaki) ……. 13) Mahias (Kawasaki)

Lucas Mahias

“Not an easy morning because I struggled during FP1 to find good feeling with the bike, which seemed different to the one I’ve ridden at previous rounds. The situation luckily improved in FP2 though and I worked well with the team, the performance of my Ninja picking up. I lowered my lap time by almost a second, without even using the soft tyres, and found good pace. This leaves me confident ahead of tomorrow’s Superpole and race. I want to thank the team as everyone’s worked really well again today.”

Constructive practice sessions for Can Oncu and Yari Montella

Kawasaki Puccetti Racing is in Barcelona, Spain, at the Barcelona-Catalunya Circuit, which is the stage for this weekend’s eighth Supersport World Championship round. Less than two weeks ago, riders Can Oncu and Yari Montella di well at Magny-Cours in France but were unable to achieve the kind of results they deserved. Both are keen to make up for that during this Barcelona round.
The Catalan weekend began this morning with the first free practice, in which Oncu set a time of 1’45”947 to place fourth, looking comfortable at this track. Montella closed in thirteenth place with a best of 1’46”532.

The second session allowed the riders to continue with the work to fine tune their ZX-6R bikes. Both improved on their lap times, with Oncu finished fifth (1’45”669) and Montella ninth (1’46”147).
The Kawasaki Puccetti Racing riders will be back out tomorrow for the Superpole session and the first of the weekend’s races.

Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya – Spain – Supersport World Championship
Combined free practice results: 1) Aegerter (Yamaha) – 2) Baldassarri (Yamaha) – 3) Bulega (Ducati) 4) Tuuli (MV Agusta) – 5) Oncu (Kawasaki) ……… 9) Montella (Kawasaki)

Can Oncu

“This first day at Barcelona has definitely been positive. We need to continue like this, giving i tour all. I’m optimistic ahead of tomorrow because we’re not far from the front and still have room to improve. It will be important to start near the front of the grid at this track, so I need to try really hard in Superpole so that we can run a good race and aim for the podium. Thanks to all the guys for their hard work.”

Yari Montella

“We’re really struggling out of the corners, where we have very little grip. We need to focus on this issue because resolving it would mean closing the gap that currently separates us form the frontrunners. I’m sure we’ll be able to do that and am confident for qualifying and the race. I want to thank my team as they’ve been a big help today.”

Saturday

An electrical problem slows down Mahias

The Superpole and first race making up round eight of the Superbike World Championship took place today at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya in Spain.

As it did in France, Mahias’ ZX-10R is again featuring the GiVi livery in Spain, a tribute to Manuel Puccetti’s historic sponsor.

Yesterday, Kawasaki Puccetti Racing rider Lucas Mahias finished the first two practice sessions in thirteenth place. This morning, the Catalan track was still wet after overnight rain, and the Frenchman preferred not to take part in FP3. In the subsequent Superpole, Mahias set a time of 1’41”937, improving by almost a second on his best of yesterday and concluding eleventh. A result that saw him start the afternoon’s 20-lap race from the fourth row of the grid. Lucas made a good start but a few laps in, the Frenchman began to experience some electronic issues with his bike, which limited him and prevented him from riding as he would have liked. The Kawasaki Puccetti Racing nevertheless gritted his teeth and brought home a fourteenth-place finish and two championship points.

Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya – Spain – Superbike World Championship
Combined free practice results: 1) Lecuona (Honda) – 2) Rinaldi (Ducati) – 3) Razgatlioglu (Yamaha) – 4) Bautista (Ducati) – 5) Rea (Kawasaki) ……. 13) Mahias (Kawasaki)

Superpole: 1) Lecuona (Honda) – 2) Lowes (Kawasaki) – 3) Rea (Kawasaki) – 4) Locatelli (Yamaha) – 5) Bautista (Ducati) – 6) Gerloff (Yamaha) …… 11) Mahias (Kawasaki)

Race 1: 1) Bautista (Ducati) – 2) Rea (Kawasaki) – 3) Gerloff (Yamaha) – 4) Rinaldi (Ducati) – 5) Razgatliuoglu (Yamaha) – 6) Lecuona (Honda) ……. 14) Mahias (Kawasaki)

Lucas Mahias

“Superpole didn’t go badly and I finished eleventh. But unfortunately in the race, I couldn’t do more than I did. We had some problems with the electronics, and this made it really hard to ride my Ninja. Considering the situation, I tried not to make any mistakes and to finish the race inside the points zone. The team is working to solve the problem and so I’m optimistic ahead of tomorrow’s races.”

Can Oncu finished third in WorldSSP race one

Kawasaki Puccetti Racing is competing in round eight of the WorldSSP championship at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya in Spain. Can Oncu and Yari Montella, who finished yesterday’s practices in fifth and ninth position respectively, were back on track this morning for the Superpole, a session that establishes the starting grid for the weekend’s races. Despite cloudy skies, Superpole ran on a dry track. Oncu put in a very strong performance, scoring a front row start, in second place, with a time of 1’45”061. The Turk has proved particularly quick around this track, and actually holds the Supersport lap record, set in last year’s race (1’45”486). With a time of 1’45”338, Montella confirmed ninth place, and therefore started from row three of the grid for the afternoon’s race.

Just a few turns into the race, an accident meant that the red was stopped with a red flag and restarted around twenty minutes later, reduced from 18 to 12 laps. In the restarted race, Oncu got away very well and was immediately up into the leading group. Fighting through every corner, the young Turkish rider was able to cross the line in third place and score his third podium of the season!

It was a tough race for Yari Montella, who wasn’t able to find the kind of pace he needed to make up ground. He therefore had to settle for thirteenth place across the line.
In the championship standings, Oncu lies fourth with 151 points, while Montella is seventh with 95.
Tomorrow the two Kawasaki Puccetti Racing rider will compete in the second and final WorldSSP race of this seventh round.

Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya – Spain – Supersport World Championship
Superpole: 1) Aegerter (Yamaha) – 2) Oncu (Kawasaki) – 3) Caricasulo (Ducati) – 4) Baldassarri (Yamaha) – 5) Huertas (Kawasaki) ……….. 9) Montella (Kawasaki)

Race 1 – 1) Aegerter (Yamaha) – 2) Baldassarri (Yamaha) – 3) Oncu (Kawasaki) – 4) Caricasulo (Ducati) – 5) Sofuoglu (MV Agusta) ……… 13) Montella (Kawasaki)

Can Oncu

“I felt like I was a little bit lost for a while but now I have got my confidence back. It makes me really happy because we have had some difficult times, but now I have found myself again. When I ride it like that I enjoy the bike so much. When the bike makes me feel like today, I love the bike more. The difference from some previous races is that, let’s say, we were just lost a little bit. So it was very difficult to find our rhythm. We found it again today. We just need to keep it like that and improve the bike more to keep the motivation high. When you lose motivation, like the previous races, it is not so good.”

Yari Montella

“I felt like I was a little bit lost for a while but now I have got my confidence back. It makes me really happy because we have had some difficult times, but now I have found myself again. When I ride it like that I enjoy the bike so much. When the bike makes me feel like today, I love the bike more. The difference from some previous races is that, let’s say, we were just lost a little bit. So it was very difficult to find our rhythm. We found it again today. We just need to keep it like that and improve the bike more to keep the motivation high. When you lose motivation, like the previous races, it is not so good.”

Sunday

Technical problems for Mahias in WorldSBK race

It was cool and sunny at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya in Spain as round eight of the Superbike World Championship drew to a close today. Yesterday, Kawasaki Puccetti Racing rider Lucas Mahias finished eleventh in Superpole before suffering from some electronics problems in race 1 and crossing the line fourteenth as a result.

As was the case at Magny-Cours, Mahias’ ZX-10R is flaunting the GiVi livery at Barcelona, in honour of the team’s historic sponsor.

This morning, the Frenchman again got away from the fourth row of the grid in the Superpole Race, which got underway in the late morning and ran over a distance of ten laps. Unfortunately, Lucas again struggled with electronics problems and was unable to do better than eleventh.

Race 2, which rounded out this eighth WorldSBK round, ran in the early afternoon. Mahias made a good start but was unable to pick up the pace as he would have liked. He nevertheless finished twelfth, scoring more points to add to his overall tally.

The next Superbike World Championship round will take place over the weekend of 7-9 October at the Autodromo do Algarve in Portimao, Portugal.

Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya – Spain – Superbike World Championship

Superpole Race: 1) Bautista (Ducati) – 2) Rea (Kawasaki) – 3) Lowes (Kawasaki) – 4) Razgatlioglu (Yamaha) – 5) Rinaldi (Ducati) – 6) Oettl (Ducati) ……11) Mahias (Kawasaki)

Race 2: 1) Bautista (Ducati) – 2) Rinaldi (Ducati) – 3) Razgatlioglu (Yamaha) – 4) Rea (Kawasaki) – 5) Bassani (Ducati) – 6) Vierge (Honda) ……… 12) Mahias (Kawasaki)

Lucas Mahias

“In the Superpole Race I unfortunately had the same problems that limited me in Race 1. My bike was difficult to ride, especially at this track where the grip is poor. In race 2 the situation improved in terms of the electronics, but with insufficient time to work on the setup, I was unable to pick up the pace as I would have liked. Looking at the positives, we can say that in the end we solved the main problem and I didn’t make any mistakes on track, so I’m sure we’ll be able to do better in the next races.”

Can Oncu finishes second in race two at WorldSSP Barcelona

The eighth Supersport World Championship round has now concluded at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya in Spain. Yesterday saw Kawasaki Puccetti Racing score a fantastic podium with Can Oncu, the third of the season for the young Turk. Setup problems hindered Yari Montella, who was unable to express his full potential.

There were sunny skies today at the Catalan track for the second and final WorldSSP race. The Superpole results meant that Oncu again started from the first row and Montella from the third for the morning’s eighteen-lap race. Both Kawasaki Puccetti Racing riders got away very well and were straight up into the leading group, Oncu second and Montella third. Over the following laps, the pair remained very much part of the leading group, oscillating between first and fourth position. Towards mid-race and with Oncu in the lead, Montella lost a little ground and was lying sixth.

Over the last lap, a group of four riders led the way, Kawasaki Puccetti Racing rider Oncu included, while Montella battled as part of the chasing group. Having run a great race, Can crossed the line second to score his fourth podium of the 2022 season and his best result of the season to date. Montella also ran a solid race to close eighth.

In the championship standings, Oncu moves into third place with 171 points, while Montella lies sixth with 103.

The next WorldSSP round will take place over the weekend of 7-9 October at the Autodromo do Algarve in Portimao, in Portugal.

Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya – Spain – Supersport World Championship
Race 2 – 1) Aegerter (Yamaha) – 2) Oncu (Kawasaki) – 3) Manzi (Triumph) – 4) Baldassarri (Yamaha) – 5) Tuuli (MV Agusta) – 6) Caricasulo (Ducati) – 7) Sofuoglu (MV Agusta) – 8) Montella (Kawasaki)

Can Oncu

“In the beginning everybody was going very slow to not spin the tyres and kill the grip but after five or six laps I started to get bored, so I said, ‘OK I will go more’. Then everybody started to push more. We started to open up a gap to the guys behind, but I didn’t know this, actually. I was thinking there was a big group of seven or eight people but I only learned we had opened a gap after the race. So, I was still trying to push as much as possible. The race was so much fun I forgot to check the lap board and when I saw it with just two laps to go on it, I thought, ‘really?’ It was very nice to be on the podium again. I hope to continue like that in Portugal. I tried to go with Aegerter when he went past but this guy is a little bit fast! I did not know that I had moved up to third in the championship today, so this good to know. I am very happy for this. Only one point ahead, but no problem, I am third!”.

Yari Montella

“I made a good start and was able to stick with the leaders through the first half of the race. Unfortunately, we don’t yet have the right setup to stay at the front until the end, but we’re working well and the bike continues to improve. Today’s race proves that yesterday we were slowed down by a defective tyre and that we have the potential to score better results. A big thank you to my team and all our sponsors.”