Manzi and Oncu battle it out for the victory in Estoril

The 2025 FIM Supersport World Championship will go down to at least the final race of the weekend at Portugal’s Circuito Estoril, with Yamaha R9 riders Stefano Manzi (Pata Yamaha Ten Kate Racing) and Can Öncü (Yamaha BLU CRU Evan Bros Team) finishing second and third respectively after today’s 18 lap battle.

With three races remaining of the 2025 season and still one more in the pipeline this weekend, the R9 teammates sit 64 points apart. Manzi, already with one hand on the 2025 title, needs to hold a 50 point gap to Öncü following tomorrow’s race to be crowned champion.

The opening race of the Estoril weekend delivered an exceptional performance for Manzi and his Pata Yamaha Ten Kate Racing squad, who pushed forwards with intention from 13th on the grid to sit amongst the top five within only a handful of laps.

Öncü, starting from pole position, held firm amongst the leading group, taking the fight to a hard-charging Manzi throughout the second half of the race. Although narrowly missing out on victory in the closing stages, the Turkish rider brought home a total of 16 championship points to keep his title hopes alive for another day.

Just outside of the podium positions but still amongst the top five runners, Lucas Mahias (GMT94 Yamaha) produced an encouraging effort from sixth on the grid, showing speed to cross the line 2.667 behind the lead.

One place behind in sixth, rookie and replacement rider to injured Aldi Mahendra, Alberto Surra (Yamaha BLU CRU Evan Bros Team), produced a fruitful outing aboard the R9, bringing home a spot well within the top ten.

Further down the order, it was a challenging second day of action for Roberto Garcia (GMT94 Yamaha). Starting from 11th on the grid, the Spaniard crossed the line in 17th after serving a double long lap penalty. Despite a trying day for the R9 rider, Garcia demonstrated strong pace and will line up on pole position in tomorrow’s race.

Sunday’s 18-lap charge will see title hopeful Manzi go from the second row in fifth, with Öncü and Surra ahead in third and fourth respectively.

Stefano Manzi
Pata Yamaha Ten Kate Racing
“It was a super good race for me at the team today in Estoril. Yesterday, I struggled more that I was expecting, especially after how fast I was last year. Luckily, the team worked hard overnight, and we were able to get our weekend back on track this morning. I came here for a win, not a second place, but at this point in the championship, we need to focus on bringing home the points. Every point counts in the fight for the title, so it felt good to finish in front of Can today. We’ll put in work tonight and come back for Race 2, where the main goal will be to win.”

Featured Image: Yamaha Racing