Can Öncü returned to the top step of the podium for a third victory of the season in emphatic style in Race 2 in Most, breaking clear of the chasing pack after a frenetic start to lead by over three seconds. Lucas Mahias competed a strong weekend with second place.
Keen to make amends after losing the win on the last lap yesterday, Öncü (Yamaha BLU CRU Evan Bros Racing) took the holeshot into turn one with Stefano Manzi (Pata Yamaha Ten Kate Racing) and race one victor Jaume Masia hot on his heels. The chasing duo would both take their turn in the lead of the race in the opening laps, but a bold move on the brakes into turn one saw Öncü reclaim the lead and pull the pin from there.
Lucas Mahias (GMT94 Yamaha) was also in the leading group from the off, keen to make an improvement on his third-place finish from Saturday. Pushing hard to chase down Öncü, Masia crashed out leaving three R9s in the top three with Öncü leading the way from Manzi and Mahias
After his race one crash yesterday, Manzi dropped out of the podium battle towards the end, falling to sixth at the close of the race while Mahias was able to hold on to a comfortable second place – marking the end to a successful weekend for the GMT94 team.
Aldi Satya Mahendra (Yamaha BLU CRU Evan Bros Racing) was on fire in the early stages, fighting for the podium before a moment with Lucas Mahias saw him lose a number of positions. Fighting hard throughout, the reigning WorldSSP300 champion was able to secure seventh in the closing stages in another impressive performance for the rookie.
Pata Yamaha Ten Kate Racing rookie Yuki Okamoto crashed out of contention, while Michael Ruben Rinaldi finished 20th.
Manzi now sits atop of the championship standings by 40 points after five rounds, with a short break before the season’s resumption for Round 6 at Misano in June.
Can Öncü (Yamaha BLU CRU Evan Bros Racing) – Race 2: 1st
“That was incredible! I am very happy because now we go into a one month break and I can have a holiday, if I had not won I would have allowed myself a holiday. I was not happy yesterday because I do not like making mistakes like that. Today, I wasn’t going to do the same again so I waited some laps and then said ‘OK it is time to go’ and I did. It was an incredible race, so thank you to the team because they gave me a lot of motivation. Everyone is working very hard and this is the proof of that, so thank you to everyone.”
