Supersport, Donington J1: Can Oncu challenges Albert Arenas!

The first day of World Supersport Championship (WorldSSP)The race, held this Friday as part of the Prosecco DOC UK Round, offered interesting suspense between Can Oncu (Pata Yamaha Ten Kate Racing) and Albert Arenas (AS BLU CRU Racing Team) for the rest of the weekend at Donington Park.

In the morning, the Free Practice session was initially marked by a minor fall from Can Öncü (Pata Yamaha Ten Kate Racing) at the start of the session.
No harm done, as the Turkish driver was quickly able to get back on track and reclaim the fastest time set in the meantime by Valentine Debise (EASTROC ZXMOTO Evan Bros Factory) in 1'32.099.

The Yamaha #61 then dropped into the low 1'30s before handing over to Dominique Aegerter (Kawasaki WorldSSP Team) in 1'29.961, then to the championship leader, Albert Arenas (AS BLU CRU Racing Team), in 1'29.829.

For 5 thousandths, Valentine Debise regained the lead but lost two minutes later to a Can Öncü particularly tenacious, himself surprised after a few moments by the local Tom Booth Amos (PTR Triumph Factory Racing) which everyone agreed on, while Lucas Mahias (GMT94 Yamaha) came to strengthen the French position in the top 5!

After this morning appetizer, the Super poles took over in the afternoon.
The first few minutes saw Can Öncü set the pace ahead Jeremy Alcove (Kawasaki WorldSSP Team) Corentin Perolari (Honda Racing World Supersport) and Albert Arenasthen Tom Booth Amos picked up roughly where he had left off in the morning, in 1'29.338.

Can Öncü then displayed 1'29.158, before Tom Booth Amos does not achieve 1'29.065 then the fall of Alessandro Zaccone (Ecosantagata Althea Racing Team) at turn #10 did not bring out the red flags while the gravel was removed from the track.

The session quickly resumed for the final 30 minutes, seeing James Masia (Orelac Racing Verdnatura) to make its appearance in a top 5 then made up of Tom Booth Amos, Can Öncü, James Masia, Albert Arenas et Valentine Debise

Roberto Garcia (GMT94 Yamaha) then pushed the rider from Albi back one place, before...Albert Arenas 1'28.951 is written at the top of the table.

Everyone then took their time before launching into the final rush, which was particularly lively, first seeing Can Öncü take the lead in 1'28.650, while Jeremy Alcove moved from 7th to 4th place.
Yellow flags were waved due to successive falls of Federico Caricasulo (EASTROC ZXMOTO Evan Bros Factory), evacuated to the medical center, and Alessandro Zaccone (Ecosantagata Althea Racing Team) then cancelled any attempt at improvement for quite some time.
The last minute, clear as day, brought no changes to the established order, even if Tom Booth Amos will ultimately drop 6 places on the starting grid for the next race for driving too slowly in a sector during Superpole (2nd offence).

With 5 manufacturers in the top 7 positions on the starting grid, the Balance of Performance still looks very well balanced.
This is much less the case in the championship, where Albert Arenas seems to be perfectly in control of the situation, despite the 4th pole position of Can Öncü This year…