Can Öncü Is Preparing to Close the Season in Third Place at Jerez

Can Öncü will try to defend third place against Masia, heading into the season finale in Jerez with only a 5-point gap.
Can Öncü will try to defend third place against Masia, heading into the season finale in Jerez with only a 5-point gap.

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The 2026 season of the World Supersport Championship concludes with the final 17-lap race at the Jerez - Angel Nieto Circuit in Spain on October 16-18. The championship was settled long ago at Estoril; the real question moved to Jerez is third place. Sitting third with 234 points, Can Oncu is closely followed by Jaume Masia with 229 points. The gap is only 5 points - meaning that when the flag drops on Sunday, an important career ranking will be settled.

Highlights

  • Can Oncu enters the finale with 234 points in third; Masia is fourth with 229 points - the gap is 5 points.
  • Oncu finished third in the first race held on Saturday, having also briefly taken the lead during the race.
  • Both Jerez races are 17 laps; the final race starts on Sunday at 15:00 local time.
  • Oncu finished the 2025 season second with 372 points .
  • The races can be watched in Türkiye via S Sport Plus and Red Bull TV.

What is the points situation at Jerez, and why is third place so critical?

The 12th and final round of the championship is being held at Jerez. Ahead of the finale, Can Oncu sits on the third step of the standings with the Pata Yamaha Ten Kate team's motorcycle, with 234 points . He is followed by Spaniard Jaume Masia, racing in Orelac Racing Verdnatura colors; the gap between them is 5 points. Those who have cut their teeth in this business know: at the end of the season, the meaning of a single step in the order is often more lasting than the calculations at the top. A podium third place is a reference point discussed all year long in contract negotiations and at sponsor meetings.

The hard part is that it does not end with simply doing your own job. Masia is not someone who has given up either; he is a rider who won the Aragon round convincingly and took the season's first pole position and first race win at Phillip Island. Moreover, he himself finished the championship third in 2025, and it was announced that he is transferring to Kawasaki at the end of this year. As he pushes his career toward a new door, he will want to take third place from Oncu in the final race; everyone knows this.

How the weekend unfolded: Superpole and the first race

Things did not go badly for Jerez at the start. Although Albert Arenas broke the record and took pole position in Superpole, Can Oncu stayed on the front row and started the first race from the third slot on the grid. Before the weekend, Oncu's expectations for the circuit were positive; he thought that at Estoril they still were not at the consistency they wanted, but that Jerez could be a good weekend for them. The result largely confirmed this expectation.

In the 17-lap first race held on Saturday, October 17, Oncu even took the lead at intermediate points and finished third on the podium. The race was won by Albert Arenas, with Jeremy Alcoba second. This result is like a lifeline for his third-place account: not dropping points to Masia right away means preserving the gap ahead of the final day. On the other hand, Bahattin Sofuoglu, who has been Oncu's teammate throughout the season, returned to Supersport with the QJMOTOR Factory team and had finished the first race in 23rd place; the two Turkish riders' weekend experiences are unfolding quite differently from each other.

The final race is on Sunday, with the warm-up scheduled for 11:15 and the race starting at 3:00 PM local time. In the old days this schedule was the usual setup for Spanish races; nothing has changed, and the afternoon sun and tire temperature calculation are still part of race strategy.

How did Can Öncü's 2026 season go?

Looking at the season as a whole, Öncü's year was not a straight line but a graph with ups and downs that came together toward the end. In the Italy round, he finished the first race third and the second race first. Racing as a wildcard in Great Britain, he claimed victory; in Czechia he stepped onto the podium twice, and in Hungary he made the podium in both races. Before Magny-Cours, he stood fourth in the standings with 178 points, and the gap to Masia was 17 points. The fact that this gap was closed from that point to Jerez shows that the battle for third actually began in the second half of the season.

Comparing with the past is also illuminating. In the 2025 season, Öncü with 372 points finished the championship second, with six wins and 16 podiums enjoying the best year of his career; champion Stefano Manzi reached 466 points, while Masia finished third with 265 points. Öncü, who also finished third in 2022, is no stranger to this ranking - but not every third place is the same. This year's position would be a bitter loss if it slipped away by the final race, whereas the previous ones were valuable because they were completed.

How is the battle with Jaume Masia shaping up?

Masia is an experienced Spaniard born on October 31, 2000, known for his track knowledge and aggressive overtaking speed. Starting the season opener at Phillip Island with both pole and victory was the first sign of how well the year suited him; his strong win at Aragon reinforced that trend. The critical point in terms of Öncü's definition of his rival is this: Masia is very fast in individual races, but his consistency has fluctuated throughout the season. Öncü's task is to complete his own race on Sunday without mistakes and ensure that the ranking is settled in his favor.

Strategically, since the gap is 5 points, the equation is clear: if Öncü finishes ahead of Masia, third place is secure. If Masia wins or stays ahead and Öncü finishes behind, the picture is reversed. Even an armchair race theorist would say this: avoiding mistakes under pressure is worth as much as setting fast laps.

The meaning of this race for Turkish motorsport

A Turkish athlete going into the final race on the podium line of a world championship is a quiet but concrete contribution to the category's visibility in Türkiye. In the old days you had to scan foreign websites to reach such news; now you can watch the race live on S Sport Plus and Red Bull TV and see the result everywhere the same evening. This infrastructure is what will pave the way for young riders in the future.

Öncü's career path is also part of this picture: born on July 26, 2003 in Alanya, a name who stepped onto the world stage in Moto3 in 2019. After second place in 2025 and third in 2022, the targeted podium on Sunday would be the third major ranking success of his short career. Bahattin Sofuoğlu's presence in the same category is also an important detail; two Turkish riders on the same stage is a sign of the discipline's continuity in Türkiye.

What awaits viewers in the season finale at Jerez?

Jerez'in efsanevir inişli çıkışlı pistinde Can Öncü, Supersport sezonunu podyumun üçüncü basamağıyla taçlandırmaya hazırlanıyor.

Sunday's 17-lap race contains several separate storylines to watch beyond the third-place calculation. The possibility of a Kawasaki double podium led by Arenas, Alcoba's form, and the closing of the season-long battle at the top are among them. But for the Turkish reader, the real focus is on Öncü's front wheel. The speed and interim leadership shown in the first race leave a reasonable margin of optimism for Sunday; on the other hand, the 5-point gap to Masia means a single mistake in a corner could change the standings. In short, in the eyes of everyone following from Türkiye, Jerez in the late afternoon hours is a candidate to be the most important track in the world.

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