Can Oncu (Yamaha BLU CRU Evan Bros Team) enjoyed arguably his best full weekend in the FIM Supersport World Championship at the Autodrom Most after picking up a second-place finish in Race 1 and P1 in Race 2. Although he was beaten on the last lap of Race 1 by Jaume Masia (Orelac Racing VerdNatura), Oncu was able to take victory in Race 2 to claim 45 out of a possible 50 points across the Motul Czech Round, potentially dragging himself back into the title race.

In Race 1, the #61 was defeated by rookie Masia who battled from 15^th on the grid to claim a first win in the Championship. Masia was running in second on the final lap but made his move at Turn 20, the penultimate corner on the track, to claim a first WorldSSP victory and force Oncu to settle for second place when it looked like he would be able to hold on for the win. However, with Stefano Manzi (Pata Yamaha Ten Kate Racing) crashing out, 20 points for Oncu was a big margin to claim back over the Championship leader.

Discussing Race 1, Oncu said: “It was quite a good race and I enjoyed it a lot. During the race, I was checking and looking at how the other riders were riding. On Friday, we had no dry track activity; it was always wet. On Saturday, we were just focusing on seeing where they were faster and where I was faster. Lap by lap, we got faster. This season, I was only missing P2, so I’ll tkake this one and on Sunday I need to take P1 again!”

Race 2 was a slightly different story for Oncu, especially in the first half of the 20-lap race. He was consistently in the podium positions but only led from the end of Lap 9. However, when he did get in front and ahead of Masia, he controlled the race. Aided by Masia crashing out from P2 on Lap 13, Oncu was able to run his own pace and rhythm to maintain the gap to the riders behind him, with fellow Yamaha rider Lucas Mahias (GMT94-YAMAHA) running in second place between one and two seconds back.

Expanding on his Race 2 victory, Oncu said: “It was incredible! I’m really happy. Now we have one month of holidays. I can have a little bit of a holiday! If I didn’t win, I’d be training again as I’d give a penalty to myself. Normally, after yesterday, all the Kenan academy riders don’t make mistakes like that, and I understood that I couldn’t make the same mistake. I waited some laps and decided it was time to go. The Championship is very long. I just want to enjoy it, get podiums and fight with the guys. The Championship is not even halfway through. Maybe we can start to think about it in the last two or three races. The mandatory thing is to get podiums, smile and keep the motivation high.”

In terms of the Championship, Oncu had been hampered by a bit of inconsistency. Prior to Most, he’d only put together one round where he scored points in both races – at Assen, where he was third and first. However, he was able to get a double rostrum in Czechia, including victory and that, combined with Manzi’s Race 1 DNF and Race 2 P6, means he gained 35 points back on the #62. Oncu sits fourth in the standings, 63 points back from Manzi, with Bo Bendsneyder (MV Agusta Reparto Corse) and Tom Booth-Amos (PTR Triumph Factory Racing) in second and third; 40 and 54 points down from Manzi respectively.

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