Can Öncü put in a display of dominance to take a commanding lights to flag victory in the first race of the weekend at the Autódromo Internacional do Algarve, Portimão with Stefano Manzi finishing second to complete a 1-2 for the new Yamaha R9.
Öncü (Yamaha BLU CRU Evan Bros Racing) has been dominant throughout the weekend, topping Free Practice before going on to take both his and the R9’s maiden Superpole yesterday afternoon. Half a second clear of the rest of the field in the pre-race Warm Up session, Öncü’s intentions were clear. A strong launch saw the 21 year old lead into the first corner before instantly gapping the chasing duo of Lucas Mahias (GMT94 Yamaha) and Stefano Manzi (Pata Yamaha Ten Kate).
Öncü’s lead was up to three seconds at its biggest point, before he began managing the gap to the riders behind to cross the line comfortably to take his first WorldSSP win since Mandalika 2023 and a second for the R9 after Stefano Manzi’s blistering start in Phillip Island.
Starting sixth, Manzi was in the podium battle from the off and after an opening lap tussle with Mahias the Italian sat in second place for the first half of the race. A mid-race charge by Bo Bensneyder saw him overtake Mahias and attack Manzi, but the newly 26-year-old fought hard to hold on to the runner-up spot to secure a birthday podium. He now leads the championship by nine points.
Mahias would eventually cross the line fourth. Michael Rinaldi (GMT94 Yamaha) took 19th and Aldi Satya Mahendra (Yamaha BLU CRU Evan Bros Racing) was 20th at the chequered flag. Yuki Okamoto (Pata Yamaha Ten Kate) was 24th.
With the fastest lap of the race Öncü will again start on pole for tomorrow’s second race ahead of Mahias in second. Manzi improved his starting position to fourth for Race 2, which gets underway at 12:35 local time.
Can Öncü – Yamaha BLU CRU Evan Bros Racing – 1st
“This is very emotional for me because after the big crash in Assen in 2023 I thought everything was over, but Kenan [Sofuoğlu] always pushed me to never give up. We started from zero and every day when I wanted to give up, he pushed me more. All weekend we have been very strong, the work we have been doing so far is very strong – we knew we had the opportunity to step up this year and this is why I work so hard. The team and Yamaha have also been working like crazy to make the bike as strong as possible. We now need to continue step by step and look to achieve the best possible result again tomorrow. But to win here is incredible, I want to thank everyone, Kenan, Yamaha, the team, everybody!”
