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Now over the hump, the FIM Supersport World Championship campaign is heating up with just five rounds to go. Stefano Manzi (Pata Yamaha Ten Kate Racing) rode his way to a dominant start of the season; however, in recent rounds, his Championship lead has begun to diminish after mixed results at Misano and Most. Can Oncu (Yamaha BLU CRU Evan Bros Team) has found his form and is raking in points with greater consistency than in the first four rounds: positioning himself as the main challenger to Manzi’s Riders’ Championship lead.

At Donington’s Prosecco DOC UK Round, the riders split the spoils, with the title leader taking Race 1 and the Turkish contender taking Race 2. Cumulatively, the #61 made up two points on the Italian as Oncu’s Race 1 P5 netted him 11 points, compared to Manzi’s 9 points from his Race 2 seventh, place While certainly every point matters, to catch Manzi by Jerez, Oncu will need to outplace Manzi consistently. If Oncu were to place P1 and Manzi in P2 in every race until the season’s final round in Jerez, Manzi would still have a 5-point lead coming into the final round in Andalucia.

ONE RACE AT A TIME: ”At the moment, I’m more focused on each race or event after another”

The #62 hit the ground running at Donington, claiming his first Tissot Superpole of the season by beating Oncu’s time by a tenth of a second. Race 1 featured a strong run by Tom Booth-Amos (PTR Triumph Factory Racing) at his home round. Leading much of the race. Manzi, however, showed composure as he let the British rider exhaust his tyres, until, with five laps to go, he struck when Booth-Amos ran wide, then had to serve a long lap penalty, enabling Manzi to cruise to the chequered flag with 4.6s of margin behind him for his fifth win of the season.

On his Race 1 win and outlook on the season from here, Manzi said: “It was amazing, because today I started from pole, starting from pole and winning the race is always amazing. The weekend was nice, from Friday to Sunday, I really enjoyed riding on this track in this weather. At the moment, I’m more focused on each race or event after another.”

CLOSING THE DOOR: “There was a moment with Manzi at Turn 11 where he just tried to attack like that, one time, ok, two times, ok, but that time I said no, you can’t go there”

Snubbed from his third pole of the season by Manzi to start the weekend, Oncu leapt forward for the holeshot in Race 1 from his P2 grid start position. In the race’s final lap, however, he had been shuffled back to P3 before fellow Yamaha rider Lucas Mahias (GMT94-YAMAHA) and Jaume Masia (Orelac Racing VerdNatura) slipped past the Turk to demote him to P5. Race 2, however, saw Oncu get his revenge. On the race’s opening lap, Oncu led heading into the Turn 11 Melbourne Hairpin, when Manzi tried to make an incisive move up the inside of the #61 to claim the lead. The Turk closed the door on the current title leader, and the two made contact on the attempted overtake, sending Manzi wide and falling back to P16 at the close of the first lap. Oncu found most of his competition from there in the form of home hero Tom Booth-Amos (PTR Triumph Factory Racing). The Englishman led most of the race, until with five laps to go, Oncu slid past him to tie Manzi at five race wins apiece in 2025.

On his Race 2 win and clash with Manzi, Oncu said: “I’m very happy, Saturday was very difficult, we struggled a lot after staying up until midnight Saturday night to find the setup and fix what was wrong with the bike. In the end, we worked really hard and got the result. We really pushed a lot for success today. There was a moment with Manzi in Turn 11 where he just tried to attack like that, one time, ok, two times, ok, but it doesn’t work like that. That time I said no, you can’t go there. I gave that answer, and from here on out, I will also answer like that.”

Catch the #61 vs #62 clash at the next round at Hungary’s Balaton Park! Watch live or on demand with the WorldSBK VideoPass! Now 50% off!