It was a Sunday of ups and downs for the Yamaha BLU CRU Evan Bros Team, in action today at Phillip Island for the second and final race day. The disappointment for Can Oncu, protagonist of a crash at the end while he was chasing a place on the podium, is contrasted by the satisfaction for Aldi Mahendra, who was able to score his first points in the Supersport World Championship.

After the Warm Up, which ended in 2nd and 13th position respectively, Oncu and Mahendra took to the track for Race 2. Can made an extraordinary start, which took him from ninth to second position, immediately fighting for the victory. On the ninth lap the Turkish rider came into the pits for the compulsory tyre change, returning to the track in eighth position.

In the final laps Oncu managed to recover positions, starting the last lap in fifth position, in full fight for the last step of the podium. Unfortunately, the last act of the race was bitter for the Turkish rider, who crashed in turn 4 Can in an attempt to overtake Alcoba, a rider who should not have been in that position due to the penalty imposed on him earlier - but only applied on the final race time - for time infringement. Oncu was able to restart, finishing the race in P16.

A good start for Mahendra, who was able to close the first lap with a position gained compared to the start in P13. Having returned to the pits for a tyre change on lap nine, Aldi did not lose his focus in the second part of the race, managing to secure a useful 13th position, which earned him the first three points of his season, as well as of his WorldSSP career.

By virtue of the weekend's results Oncu occupies ninth position in the overall standings with 11 points, while Mahendra is 18th with three points. The Yamaha BLU CRU Evan Bros Team will be back in action from 28-30 March at the Portimao circuit, for the second round of the World Supersport Championship.

Aldi Mahendra
“I am very happy to have scored my points in the season, at a track I got to know this week. Now I want to continue working like this, to be ready for the second round of the season. Thanks to the team for their good work, we are on the right track”.

Can Oncu
“I had fun in the race, especially when I was fighting for the podium, but unfortunately I made mistakes, also due to a rider who should not have been there. I am happy with the work we did together with the team over the weekend: we know we can improve and we want to do it as quickly as possible”.

Fabio Evangelista (Team Principal)
“I am very pleased that Aldi scored his first points. The races with the pit stop didn't help him gain experience, but the talent is there and he just needs to make kilometres. Can was going for at least fourth place, but having to fight with riders who did not respect pit stop times and were only penalised at the end, such as Alcoba or Taccini, first complicated and then compromised the race, as Can crashed to overtake Alcoba. I think flag to flag done in this way doesn't work, but let's look ahead”.