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Öncü aiming for "first place in Indonesia" after WorldSSP-best result in Argentina

Tuesday, 19 October 2021 06:23 GMT

After taking his best result in WorldSSP to date, Can Öncü has outlined his goals before the end of the 2021 campaign…

The Motul Argentinean Round was the scene of many high moments during the FIM Supersport World Championship’s visit to the Circuito San Juan Villicum with Turkish star Can Öncü (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) claiming two podiums during the weekend as well as his best WorldSSP result with second place in Race 2.

After claiming his first podium at Magny-Cours, Öncü, the youngest ever winner of a Grand Prix when he won at Valencia in Moto3™ in 2018, claimed four more top-ten finishes before returning to the rostrum in Argentina, where he battled with Jules Cluzel (GMT94 Yamaha) for victory in Race 1 before falling to third on Lap 13

Like in Race 1, Öncü got a good start to move into podium contention straight away and was, once again, following Cluzel. During the first 14 laps of the 21-lap battle, Öncü was able to stay less than a second behind Cluzel before losing time in the final third of the race and finishing two seconds back to the Frenchman. Crucially, he was able to maintain second place and also more than halved his deficit to the winner between Race 1 and Race 2. It means the 18-year-old now has three WorldSSP podiums to his name, all from his second season, with a best result of second place.

“I’m very happy! I want to say thanks to the team, thanks to Kawasaki and Kenan. In Race 1, we did a great job and today we improved it so I’m really happy. The next target is first place in Indonesia! From Friday we were strong here and on Saturday we finished third just because the other two guys were a little bit faster. On Sunday morning Kenan told me I had to do every lap in the low 1’42s, so we did it and we finished second. I tried to follow Jules Cluzel and I had a really good feeling in this race. I am happy to take second and I hope to get on the podium again in Indonesia.”

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