Published October 18, 2025 by Michael Le Pard , Editor‑in‑Chief
Stefano Manzi secured yet another stunning race victory in the opening FIM Supersport World Championship race of the weekend at the Circuito de Jerez, taking the win with a last lap, last corner over-take after starting 11th on the grid.
After a tough Superpole session, the newly-crowned World Champion looked to have his work cut out in Race 1, but a strong launch from the grid saw the Pata Yamaha Ten Kate Racing rider fourth after the first turn.
2025 championship runner-up, Can Öncü (Yamaha BLU CRU Evan Bros Racing), took the lead in the early stages but was later penalised for a move on Mattia Casadei and had to drop one position, but in doing so lost four or five positions.
An exciting race followed, with Manzi and Öncü in the mix with Jaume Masia, Jeremy Alcoba, Alberto Surra (Yamaha BLU CRU Evan Bros Racing) and GMT94 Yamaha’s Roberto Garcia.
In the closing stages, Manzi was sat in second behind Alcoba but looked ready to pounce. A lack of opportunity for the Italian on the last lap meant things came down to the final corner, and with Alcoba going tight Manzi waited for him to run wide before making the move. The pair touched briefly and the result was decided by a drag to the line, with Manzi reaching the chequered flag just 0.051 seconds ahead of his opponent.
A penalty for Masia on the final lap promoted Öncü onto the podium in third.
Rookie Alberto Surra, who continues to stand in for the injured Aldi Satya Mahendra in the Yamaha BLU CRU Evan Bros Racing Team, finished fifth.
GMT94 Yamaha’s Lucas Mahias’ run of bad luck continued, with a crash resulting in a fracture to his left distal radius and has been ruled unfit for the remainder of the weekend.
Roberto Garcia took tenth and the second Pata Yamaha Ten Kate Racing R9 of Yuki Okamoto crossed the line 25th.
With the grid for Race 2 set by the fastest laps from the opening race, Can Öncü moves up to pole position ahead of GMT94 Yamaha’s Roberto Garcia with champion Manzi completing an all-R9 front row. Alberto Surra heads up row two in fourth. Lights go out at 15:30 local time on the final race of the season.
Stefano Manzi (Pata Yamaha Ten Kate Racing) – 1st
“It was a good race. I didn’t really think about our starting position, I was just focused on recovering as many positions as possible and to make sure I could be in the front group. It was difficult because with the stronger winds in the afternoon, we missed a bit in the fast corners. Everyone was struggling with this, so therefore it was difficult to escape the group. It was a compact group at the front with a big fight in every corner, in every braking point there was an overtake. With five laps to go I took the lead and I got into a fight with Jeremy, which was hard one until the final corner.
Michael Le Pard (“Mr. Totalmotorcycle”) is the Founder of Total Motorcycle, the world’s largest motorcycle information site, trusted by over 430 million riders since 1999. With over 34 years of experience in motorcycles, gear and rider culture, he has built a global community dedicated to empowering and inspiring motorcyclists.
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