Can Oncu won FIM Supersport World Championship Race One Saturday at Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours, in France. Riding his Pata Yamaha Ten Kate Racing YZF-R9, the Turkish rider won the 19-lap race by just 0.107 second.
Roberto Garcia was the runner-up on his GMT94 Yamaha YZF- R9, just 0.285 second ahead of third-place finisher Valentin Debise, who rode a Eastroc Evan Bros ZXMOTO 820RR.
Garcia’s teammate, Lucas Mahias got fourth and Debise’s teammate Federico Cariasulo crossed the finish line fifth.
Albert Arenas leads the championship with 291 points, 66 ahead of Valentin Debise who has 225 points. Can Oncu is third with 203 points.
WSSP RACE 1
More, from a press release issued by WSBK:
INSTANT CLASSIC: Oncu pips Garcia in epic WorldSSP Race 1, Arenas crashes out. The Championship picture takes a stunning turn as Arenas is taken to the medical centre and Debise capitalises in P3.
Can Oncu (Pata Yamaha Ten Kate Racing) strikes first in France! The Turk’s win spells his first of the season and promotes him to third place in the title race, as well as tying Sam Lowes (ELF Marc VDS Racing Team), Yari Montella (Barni Spark Racing Team), and Valentin Debise (EASTROC ZXMOTO Factory Evan Bros Racing) for all-time WorldSSP wins. Roberto Garcia finished just behind the #61, landing his second podium of the season, and in P2 he takes his career-best WorldSSP result. The Yamaha 1-2 made history for the Japanese manufacturer, marking their 300th WorldSSP race on the podium. Valentin Debise takes P3, the Frenchman’s first time finishing P3 this season, as each time he has taken his ZXMOTO 820RR onto the rostrum, it has been onto the top step.
ARENAS WIPES OUT, TAKEN TO MEDICAL CENTRE
Mahias shot off the line from P3 to take the holeshot from Debise. Moments later, however, from P2, the #53 had a big moment at Turn 5 of the first lap, slipping down to P10. The mistake looked as though it would be very costly to his title dreams; however, Turn 5 of Lap 3 sent shockwaves through the Championship battle as farther back, Jeremy Alcoba (Kawasaki WorldSSP Team) and Albert Arenas (AS BLU CRU Racing Team) got tangled up and sent both riders down onto the tarmac. The #75 was taken to the medical centre and was seen clutching his right wrist as marshals ushered him off track. He will be reevaluated on Sunday morning before Warm Ups.
ONCU BECOMES 2026’S 7th WINNER, THE MOST SINCE 2008
Can Oncu (Pata Yamaha Ten Kate Racing) didn’t need an invitation to take advantage of the Championship leader’s misfortune. He had climbed steadily up the grid when the incident took place, and he continued working up from P13 to lead the race. He fought throughout the second half of the race for P1 with Garcia, establishing himself in front in the final laps, and saw his effort home with a personal best lap time of 1’40.237s to seal his first win of the season. With 11 Laps to go, Debise was up to fifth as he slipped past Filippo Farioli (VFT Racing) for P5 at the Adelaide hairpin. A Lap later, the French rider had a hair-raising moment as he made contact with Jorge Navarro (PTR Triumph Factory Racing) on the exit of Adelaide, both riders staying up, and the moment earned Navarro a Long Lap Penalty for Irresponsible Riding. Debise pressed on, passing his rival Mahias to P3. He didn’t quite have the speed to battle for the race win, but the Frenchman cut his Championship deficit to 66 points behind Arenas.
MAHIAS PACEY IN RACE 1 YET MISSES PODIUM
Mahias fought for the podium positions for the entire affair until Debise slid inside him on the Turn 11-12 chicane, sending him wide. From there, the #94 didn’t have a whiff of the podium places. Federico Caricasulo (EASTROC ZXMOTO Factory Evan Bros Racing) showed that his Friday Tissot Superpole session pace was no fluke as he was right back in the thick of the top ten fight, finishing in P5 for his best result since Estoril 2024. Farioli turned heads early from his P8 starting position as he shot all the way up to P2. His Race 1 result arrives as his best result of the season so far, and his best result since Aragon last season.
RECORD HIGHS FOR WHATLEY
Josh Whatley’s (Orelac Racing VerdNatura) P7 effort spells his best-ever WorldSSP result; strong stuff from the British rider who takes top Ducati honours. Navarro finishes in P8, not quite representative of his strong Saturday pace in his first race of 2026 in the category. Aldi Mahendra (AS BLU CRU Racing Team) had a solid day at the office to recover his P16 starting position to finish in P9. Jaume Masia (Orelac Racing VerdNatura) as well did well to rectify a poor Friday Superpole result of P17, taking P10 on Saturday afternoon. Despite the result, he falls to P4 in the title race behind Oncu.
BOOTH-AMOS CRASHES OUT
Mattia Casadei (D34G WorldSSP Racing Team) and Tom Booth-Amos (PTR Triumph Factory Racing) came to grief as they made contact on Turn 5, sending the Brit back to the boxes and the Italian was handed a Long Lap Penalty for Irresponsible Riding.
The top six from the WorldSSP Race 1: Full results here!
- Can Oncu (Pata Yamaha Ten Kate Racing)
- Roberto Garcia (GMT94 Yamaha) +0.107s
- Valentin Debise (EASTROC ZXMOTO Evan Bros Factory) +0.392s
- Lucas Mahias (GMT94 Yamaha) +2.910s
- Federico Caricasulo (EASTROC ZXMOTO Evan Bros Factory) +4.519s
- Filippo Farioli (VFT Racing Yamaha) +5.323s
Fastest lap: Lucas Mahias (Yamaha) – 1’42.013s
The category will charge into their final day in France tomorrow with lights out on Race 2 at 12:40 (Local time UTC +2)! Tune in live or OnDemand with the WorldSBK VideoPass! Now 70% off!
