WorldSSP: Oncu wins as Manzi limits the damage

WorldSSP: Race 1 winner Stefano Manzi started from pole position in the Supersport class.

The Pata Yamaha Ten Kate Racing rider made a good start but conceded the lead to Can Oncu at Turn 1. On the opening lap at the Melbourne Hairpin Manzi attacked his title rival.

After contact between the pair Manzi was lucky to stay upright but dropped out of the points as he recovered from the incident. He was 16th at the end of Lap 1, into the points paying position on the next lap, the top ten by the sixth lap but his progress soon stalled and he had to settle for seventh at the flag.

Having lost momentum in the incident with Manzi, Oncu (Yamaha BLU CRU Evan Bros Team) chased Tom Booth-Amos (PTR Triumph Factory Racing) for the first 15 laps. The Englishman, runner-up in Race 1, was battling for a home win and spurred on by the home crowd. Ultimately Oncu attacked with just over four laps to go and pounced on his opportunity to lead. Booth-Amos gave chase but had to concede the win and settle for second at the flag.

Lucas Mahias (GMT94-YAMAHA) stayed out of trouble throughout the race and kept a watching brief in third position. He battled with his teammate, Roberto Garcia, in the early stages. Garcia would finish fifth having been overtaken by Jaume Masia (Orelac Racing Verdnatura) at two thirds distance.

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Championship Highlights
Oncu’s victory saw him reduce the deficit to Manzi in the standings to 45 points with ten races remaining. Booth-Amos extended his lead over Masia to ten points in their fight for third. Booth-Amos is 17 points behind Oncu
Yamaha holds a 120 point advantage over Ducati in the Manufacturer Standings while Triumph has closed to within 16 points of the Italian manufacturer

P1 – Can Oncu (Yamaha BLU CRU Evan Bros Team)
“I’m very happy! I don’t even know what to say, to be honest. We struggled a lot yesterday but last night we worked until midnight trying to understand what was wrong. In the end, we found the right setup and today we got the result. I just want to say a big thank you to the team and to everyone around me. We all pushed to make this happen. I also want to say congratulations to all the Turkish riders. To my brother in Moto2, and to Toprak. It’s been a great weekend for all of us.”

Race 2 Results
1. Can Oncu (Yamaha BLU CRU Evan Bros Team)
2 Tom Booth-Amos (PTR Triumph Factory Racing) +0.816s
3 Lucas Mahias (GMT94-YAMAHA) +1.834s
4 Jaume Masia (Orelac Racing VerdNatura) +4.193s
5. Roberto Garcia (GMT94-YAMAHA) 5.358s
6. Philipp Oettl (Feel Racing WorldSSP Team) +6.700s

Championship Standings
1. Stefano Manzi (Pata Yamaha Ten Kate Racing) 244
2. Can Oncu (Yamaha BLU CRU Evan Bros Team) 199
3 Tom Booth-Amos (PTR Triumph Factory Racing) 182
4. Jaume Masia (Orelac Racing VerdNatura) 172
5. Bo Bendsneyder (MV Agusta Reparto Corse) 156
6. Lucas Mahias (GMT94-YAMAHA) 150