Turkish FIM Supersport World Championship star Can Oncu (Pata Yamaha Ten Kate Racing) logged another strong weekend in his 2026 campaign, complete with fighting for race wins and a podium finish; yet marked by a costly late Race 2 mistake. While the blunder kept him off the top step of the podium at the Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours, it was another strong round from the #61 who landed his first win since Aragon last season, and moved past Jaume Masia (Orelac Racing VerdNatura) for third place in the Riders’ Championship.
“I CAME FROM VERY FAR BACK, P13, BUT SOMEHOW I FOUND MYSELF IN THE LEAD GROUP ON THE FIRST LAP”
It was a tepid start to the weekend from the #61, who typically is something of a Tissot Superpole session specialist, currently leading the Championship in 2026 poles with four. In France, however, Oncu led the session early on, before suffering a tech issue around Turn 14, ending his session early with only four laps registered and sending him down to a P13 start. Fifth row start or not, Oncu was not going to be denied on Saturday in Race 1; after a single lap, he was already seven positions up, riding in P6. From there, he kept pushing, taking a position every lap to it P3 by Lap 4, and that next lap, overtaking replacement rider Jorge Navarro (PTR Triumph Factory Racing) and home hero Lucas Mahias (GMT94 Yamaha) to lead the race. He had to dig in and fight tooth and nail from there with fellow Yamaha rider Roberto Garcia (GMT94 Yamaha), who tailed the Turk for 10 laps by less than a quarter of a second, and even found a way past him at points to lead Lap 11, Lap 17, and the penultimate Lap 18. Oncu found a way past the Spaniard on the parabolic Turn 5 during the final lap and came across the line in P1 for his first win of the season.
After his Saturday Race 1 win, Oncu said: “The race was very good! After seeing my results in the Superpole session, honestly, I was hoping for the podium. It looks like coming from the back works better for me! I’m very happy and thankful for the team. During the race, I was trying to stay relaxed; normally, I get too excited. Over the summer break, Kenan taught me how to stay relaxed on the bike. While other riders were on vacation, I was on track every day. If I wasn’t going to the circuit, Kenan was calling me an getting angry, even if I wasn’t happy and wanted to go on vacation, I was working with him and with my trainer. I’m happy that the hard work paid off. I came from very far back, P13, but somehow I found myself in the lead group on the first lap. When I came around Turn 5 to the back straight, I saw open track and thought, ‘Ok! thank you everyone!’ Today for me was very special; we’ve been anticipating this first win with Ten Kate since the start of the season, and today was the day.”
“UNFORTUNATELY, I MADE A SMALL MISTAKE IN THE LAST SECTOR, AND THEREFORE I FINISHED IN FOURTH POSITION”
Setting off from P6 in Sunday’s Race 2, the Turk again enjoyed a tremendous jump off the line at lights out to take P1 by the outset of Lap 2. Fighting with Albert Arenas (AS BLU CRU Racing Team) and Valentin Debise (EASTROC ZXMOTO Factory Evan Bros Racing) for the lead, Oncu led the race for eight of Race 2’s 11 laps before Tom Booth-Amos's (PTR Triumph Factory Racing) Turn 3 crash, which brought out the red flags to clean up the track surface. Oncu lined up in P1 for the ultra-short, five-lap restarted race; this time, however, he dropped to P2 on the run into Turn 1 behind the Championship-leading Arenas, necessitating another Turn 5 move to retake P1. Mistakes from there in Race 2 would prove costly, as he ran wide into the Estoril corner on Lap 2, dropping down to P4. By Lap 4, he was back in the driver’s seat with a Turn 5 move on Arenas, and as he led into the final sector, his double seemed all but assured. Just then, he ran wide into Turn 15, with Garcia leading the trio of riders past him to land his first WorldSSP win, and to show Oncu to a disappointing P4 to close the round.
On his tough break in Race 2, Oncu said: “It was very good for me; I’m happy with the performance that we showed today. Unfortunately, I made a small mistake in the last sector, and therefore I finished in fourth position. I am very happy with the work we’ve done this weekend, and I will keep it up in the upcoming races. I cannot wait to be back for the next round.”
P4 to close the round is a costly twist for the Turk, who now sits a distant 95 points out from Arenas in P1 and 25 points back from Debise in P2. His speed is beyond question, particularly over a single lap. In many ways, his showing at Magny-Cours showed progression, overcoming a poor Superpole result to emerge atop the pack; yet, a costly mistake again got the better of what was perhaps a race-winning effort over the previous laps and cost him vital points in his title hopes. Cremona next round will be a test, as he has struggled in his past two appearances there for a best result of P8 in 2024.
Catch Oncu and the rest of the dynamic WorldSSP grid as they battle it out on September 25th in the first day of action at Cremona! Tune in live or OnDemand with the WorldSBK VideoPass! Now 70% off!