Localised flooding in some sections of the 4.411km long Magny-Cours circuit on Saturday saw the first WorldSSP race of the weekend run on Sunday, not Saturday, and in a shortened 12-lap format.
The track was still wet in some sections on Sunday morning but the dry weather conditions and the large field of competing riders soon cleared a dry line that favoured the riders who had made a choice of slick race tyres from the start.
Kawasaki Ninja ZX-6R rider Öncü made progress from what was 11th place on the starting grid. He had qualified 12th in Superpole on Friday but was promoted one position as a rider ahead of him was penalised before the race took place.
Can made progress through the field after dropping to 14th position in the changeable track conditions on lap one and would finish in fifth place - making this his best single result of 2024.
With new qualifying rules in place for this year Can’s Race One fastest lap time meant he started from pole position in Race Two.
Race Two, run over a full 19-laps, saw Can lead for the first lap, then get passed by race winner Yari Montella and then championship leader Adrian Huertas. On lap four a tough pass from Stefano Manzi saw Can run wide, relegating him to seventh place.
He would battle hard for the rest of the race and take a ninth place finish after a very busy day of work across two points scoring contests.
Can is now 11th overall, with 70 points, just eight points away from the top ten.
Can Öncü, stated: “Unfortunately, I made a few small mistakes in Superpole that prevented me from putting together a clean lap, but the team did a great job on Friday. We had no race on Saturday but I had my best result of the year in the short Race One on Sunday morning. The second race was also good but I know I need to improve myself. I will work more to do that and hopefully in the next round at Cremona we will be even better.”
Local rider Guillaume Antiga (Viamo Racing by MTM Kawasaki) was 25th in Race One and 24th in Race Two.
After the French round ends there will be one free weekend before an intense finish to the WorldSSP season features four race weekends in five weeks. The first of those will be a local round for the Kawasaki Puccetti Racing Team, at the Cremona circuit in Italy between 20-22 September.
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