Can Öncü secured a fifth pole position of the 2026 season for the Pata Yamaha Ten Kate Racing team as Round 11 of the FIM Supersport World Championship got underway at Circuito Estoril on Friday.
The Turkish ace’s lap time of 1’39.011 sets a new all-time Supersport lap record at the Portuguese circuit, as he aims to end the season on a high and secure third in the 2026 standings.
Öncü is joined on the front row in another R9 1-2 by GMT94 Yamaha’s Lucas Mahias, who was just 0.046 seconds off the pole position time.
Filippo Farioli (VFT Racing Yamaha) was able to build on his form from the previous round in Cremona, securing a second row start in sixth position.
On the eve of a day that could see him crowned World Champion, Albert Arenas (AS BLU CRU Racing) secured a ninth-place start, but the Spanish rider will be encouraged by a difficult day for his title rival Valentin Debise, who will start 17th. Arenas is crowned champion if he beats Debise in Race 1 or finishes on the podium should Debise win the race.
It was a challenging day for the second GMT94 Yamaha of Roberto Garcia, who will start from 19th while Aldi Satya Mahendra (AS BLU CRU Racing) and Yuki Okamoto (Pata Yamaha Ten Kate Racing) will start 23rd and 27th respectively.
The opening WorldSSP race of the weekend gets underway at 14:00 local time.
Can Öncü (Pata Yamaha Ten Kate Racing – Pole Position (1’39.011)
“I am very happy, because Cremona was a big disappointment for us so I am happy to come here, working hard with my team and be feeling strong. Hopefully it means we can have a better race, I feel very comfortable with the bike so we will push as hard as we can for the best result”
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