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21 mei 2022

Öncü And Montella Score Strongly

Kawasaki Puccetti Racing rider Can Öncü came within 0.335 seconds of a podium finish in the first Estoril WorldSSP Race. His team-mate Yari Montella placed sixth, for his best race finish since he joined the championship this season.

It was a day of measured success for the Kawasaki Puccetti Racing duo of Öncü and Montella, at an overcast but warm and dry Circuito Estoril.

Overcoming a less than ideal Superpole qualifying position of eighth Can showed the pace for a podium finish for almost the whole race, leading from lap two to lap six.

Only a drop in rear traction at the end of the race saw Can unable to defend his podium position right to the flag.

A fighting fourth place for Öncü adds to his points score and lifts him to fifth in the overall championship rankings, with one more race to go at Estoril this weekend.

Montella’s career best in this class saw him score points for the fourth time in five WorldSSP races so far.

Yari had been only 12th on the grid which makes his gradual but determined promotion to the top six a strong result to reward his and his team’s efforts. Like his team-mate, he simply did not have enough traction right at the end to finish any higher in the final rankings.

The second Estoril WorldSSP race will commence on Sunday 22 May, at 12.30 local time in Portugal.

Can Öncü, stated: “I pushed to the max right from the start because I wanted to win. I moved into the lead but from about mid-race on, I started to lose ground and missed out on the podium by just a fraction. I’m sorry about the result but pleased because we have once again shown that we can run up front and battle for the win. A big thanks to my whole team.”

Yari Montella, stated: “Once again today we had confirmation that we’re continuing to improve. We can now be quick right from the initial stages and need to learn to manage our potential all the way to the finish line. I’m quite pleased with my result today. It could have been better without the drop in tyre performance which affected me over the last laps. A good sixth place finish that I am nevertheless taking as a starting point and not an end point. I want to thank the entire team as they’ve worked really hard today.”

WorldSSP rookie Adrian Huertas (MTM Kawasaki) scored an excellent eighth place in the 18-lap race.

Jeffrey Buis (Motozoo Racing by Puccetti Kawasaki) was 25th in Race one. Benjamin Currie (Motozoo Racing by Puccetti Kawasaki) made his first WorldSSP start after suffering a training injury in the winter but had to retire from the race.

Tom Booth-Amos (Prodina Racing Kawasaki) was 14th in free practice on Friday at Estoril but he had to withdraw from the Saturday action as his lower leg injury was not healed enough to last full race distance. He aims to be ready to race at the team’s home round at Misano in two weeks.

    #NinjaSpirit