Can Öncü and Stefano Manzi went head-to-head in a thrilling last-lap battle in the second FIM Supersport World Championship race at Motorland Aragon, with the Turkish star narrowly bearing the series leader in a photo finish at the line.
After a second place on Saturday pushed the title battle to the next round in Estoril, Öncü had the challenge of starting from seventh on the grid on Sunday but it didn’t deter the Yamaha BLU CRU Evan Bros Racing rider. A strong launch saw him into the leading trio from the early stages.
It would be a close fought battle throughout the race, with Öncü and Manzi (Pata Yamaha Ten Kate Racing) in contention with rivals Debise and Oettl also taking their turns at leading the race. An exciting battle ensued, with Öncü, Manzi and Debise fighting until the end.
Manzi lead on the last lap, but Öncü had a plan and executed it perfectly along the back straight, but with Aragon’s tricky last corner lending itself well to the rider in second place for the drag to the line, Manzi almost pipped him, with just 0.027 seconds separating them at the chequered flag.
It would mark Öncü’s first victory since Donington Park in July and close the championship gap to 60 points with two rounds remaining.
Alberto Surra (Yamaha BLU CRU Evan Bros Racing) finished ninth as he continues to deputise for Aldi Satya Mahendra.
It was a tough race for GMT-94 Yamaha with Lucas Mahias crashing out of fifth in the early stages, while Roberto Garcia was involved in an incident with another rider. The Spaniard was able to remount and finished 23rd. Yuki Okamoto finished 26th.
The series resumes in Estoril in two weeks’ time.
FULL RACE TWO RESULTS
CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS
Can Öncü (Yamaha BLU CRU Evan Bros Racing)
Race 2: 1st, Championship: 2nd
“After warm-up I realised I could push for some laps, but I knew Manzi and Debise were going to be very fast and they could come and fight. I wanted to focus on pushing to see what I could do, not make any mistakes and see what happened in the last laps. With two laps to go, Manzi passed me and I knew I had to attack back straight away as he is strong. I attacked back, he passed me again and then I decided to leave it until the last straight and give it my all. I caught the slip stream and made the move but the last corner here is very tricky here. I did it in the end, so I am very happy! It was a very good end to a strong weekend, which is a dream as normally Aragon is a bad circuit for me! I could never have imagined I could come here and do this.”
Posted on September 28, 2025 by Michael Le Pard
