News

FIM Supersport World Championship roars back after the summer break! With a Championship fight hanging in the balance, this year’s French Round has the makings of a showdown that will light up the quaint French hamlet of Magny-Cours. Stefano Manzi (Pata Yamaha Ten Kate Racing) continues to close in on what would be his first WorldSSP Championship; however, fellow Yamaha rider Can Oncu (Yamaha BLU CRU Evan Bros Team) is determined to fight the Italian in every corner, and there still exists the possibility of a late Championship coup by the Turk.

#61 TAILS #62: Oncu sits closest behind Manzi, but is it too little too late for Oncu?

Manzi lords over the rest of the field with his 59-point lead; however, with eight races to go, Manzi is not quite out of the woods yet. After struggling at Most, then improving at Misano and Donington, but still dropping points, Manzi’s pair of race wins at Balaton helped his campaign greatly. Oncu benefitted from Manzi’s momentarily faltering form. Still, with Manzi going into the summer break off a dominant double performance, in many ways, the next round is a make-or-break for the pair’s season. If Oncu were to be able to win each of the eight races left, his total points tally would come out to 435 points, meaning even if he were able to accomplish such a feat, Manzi would only need to earn P3s and two P2s to clinch his first WorldSSP Championship. What is clear is that any DNF would be a big blow to either rider’s hopes, and if it were Manzi, the Championship race would be blown wide open.

MASIA LEADS THE PELETON: Booth-Amos and Bendsneyder give chase, Mahias looks to spoil their fun

Spanish rookie Jaume Masia (Orelac Racing VerdNatura) has distinguished himself in his first season in WorldSSP, and while his form has had momentary falters, intense rounds like at Cremona and more recently at Misano have done enough for the youngster to find himself in P3 in the Riders’ Championship. 103 points back from Manzi, it would take an epic collapse from both Yamaha riders ahead of him to be in Championship contention, but Masia may have his hands full defending third place. Tom Booth-Amos (PTR Triumph Factory Racing) and Bo Bendsneyder (MV Agusta Reparto Corse) have both had their share of woeful rounds, but recently, they have both shown that they can each still fight for the podium. Booth-Amos earned back-to-back P2s at his home round at Donington, and Bendsneyder got back onto the podium at Balaton after a four-round drought. Masia currently sits just three points above Booth-Amos, and 19 points ahead of Bendsneyder.

Each of them will need to seize any podium they can to emerge victorious in their battle for third place. Throwing a wrench in their hopes, Lucas Mahias (GMT94-YAMAHA), currently in P6, has shown that while he may be 41 points back from Masia, he has the potential to outpace the riders ahead of him and steal essential points. The Frenchman will be an interesting character to watch at this point in the season as he sits 22 points behind Bendsneyder in P5, but he has more podiums across the last four rounds than Bendsneyder and Booth-Amos combined.

BATTLE FOR SEVENTH: Debise leads Alcoba, Schroetter and Oettl

Approaching his home round, Frenchman Valentin Debise (Renzi Corse) sits in P7, 31 points behind countryman Lucas Mahias. Debise’s closest competition are a pack of riders hot on his tail: with Spanish rookie Jeremy Alcoba (Kawasaki WorldSSP Team) 12 points back in P8, Marcel Schroetter (WRP Racing) just a further 4 points back, and Philipp Oettl (Feel Racing WorldSSP Team) a subsequent 8 points back, meaning each of these riders is within one race’s potential haul of points. Given there are eight races left, the battle for the top 10 places is truly too close to call.

NEW AND RETURNING FACES: Arbel set for potential return

Aldi Mahendra (Yamaha BLU CRU Evan Bros Team) will unfortunately miss the French Round after suffering fractures in both wrists from a training accident ahead of the round, he has returned to Indonesia for further assessment of his injuries. The Indonesian rookie will be replaced by Italian rider Alberto Surra, who joins the paddock for the first time from the Moto2 European Championship. Bryan D’Onofrio (EAB Racing Team) continues his role filling in for Harrison Voight (EAB Racing). Loic Arbel (Team Flembbo-Pilote Moto Production) hopes to return to the grid after his injury suffered in Round 3 at Assen, similar to Yuki Okamoto (Pata Yamaha Ten Kate Racing), who, after being declared unfit at Donington, will be evaluated before the round as to whether he will compete. Joining as a wildcard rider, Bartholome Perrin will join the GMT94-YAMAHA outfit for what will be a home round for him. Lastly, Muhammad Norrodin joins the grid alongside Kaito Toba and Syarifuddin Azman for the PETRONAS MIE Honda Racing Team. Lastly, Mattia Volpi will be substituting for fellow Italian Mattia Casadei (Motozoo ME Air Racing) aboard the team’s MV Agusta F3 800 RR in what will be Volpi’s debut in the class.

Tune in for all the action at Magny-Cours this weekend with the WorldSBK VideoPass! Now 50% off!