Magny-Cours, Race 1: Yamaha victory for Öncü – debacle for Öttl and Aegerter

On Friday, local hero Valentin Debise secured pole position for the first Supersport race at the Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours. The ZX-Moto rider has already won six races in the 2026 Supersport World Championship and is one of the top favourites at his home race. Joining the Frenchman on the front row were his team-mate Federico Caricasulo and Yamaha ace Lucas Mahias.

Championship leader Albert Arenas (Yamaha) surprisingly qualified only in tenth place. Dominique Aegerter (Kawasaki) was 15th on the grid and Philipp Öttl (Ducati) second from last – the German had crashed in qualifying and did not set a timed lap.

The 19-lap race got underway at 2.00 pm. Under slightly overcast skies, the temperature was a pleasant 25 degrees Celsius. Mahias won the sprint to the first corner, entering it in the lead ahead of the pole-setter, Roberto Garcia (Yamaha), and Caricasulo. In the scramble through the first few corners, Corentin Perolari (Honda) crashed and Debise dropped back to 10th place.

After Lap 1, Yamaha held a one-two-three lead with Mahias, Fillipo Farioli and Garcia. Arenas was already in sixth and Debise remained in 10th. Domi Aegerter held on to 14th place in the points, whilst Öttl, in 28th, was barely able to make up any ground.

Lap 3 saw the end of the race for Arenas, who was knocked off his bike by Jeremy Alcoba (Kawasaki). Alcoba continued the race. Meanwhile, Debise (8th) set the fastest lap of the race with a time of 1:40.383 minutes.

Topic of the week

2027 MotoGP grid: Almost a quarter of the riders are new – implications for SBK

The 2027 MotoGP grid will feature five new regular riders, with at least three of those dropped set to move to the World Superbike Championship. The ones to suffer as a result are Alvaro Bautista and Danilo Petrucci.

Ivo Schützbach

Read more

TV program

Today

Magny-Cours: Rennen 1

FIM Superbike World Championship

05.09.2026 - 15:15

Supersport returnee Jorge Navarro – the Spaniard is standing in for the injured Triumph rider Oli Bayliss – briefly took the lead on Lap 5. The top seven (including Debise) were within 1.4 seconds of one another at this stage. Aegerter followed 5.6 seconds behind in 15th place, whilst Öttl had improved to 23rd. Andi Kofler (Yamaha) followed in 25th.

Debise made up position after position and was sixth at the halfway stage. However, his gap to the front remained virtually unchanged. Navarro, Can Öncü and Roberto Garcia took turns in the lead. The fastest lap of the race, however, was set by Tom Booth-Amos (Triumph), who was knocked off the track immediately after clocking 1:39.868 minutes and dropped back to 30th place.

Can Öncü (Yamaha) led the race for most of the time

In the second half of the race, the lap times of the front-runners slowed ever so slightly. Now it was Debise’s turn to shine, having by then moved up to fourth place. Ahead of the ZX-Moto rider were the Yamaha trio of Öncü, Garcia and Mahias. Navarro was handed a long-lap penalty and lost touch with the leaders. In 17th place, Aegerter was within striking distance of 15th, whilst Öttl was lapped.

By lap 14, the top four were separated by just 0.9 seconds. Öncü led the race for most of the time, ahead of Garcia, Debise and Mahias.

With three laps to go, Garcia and Öncü pulled slightly clear of Debise and Mahias. Caricasulo, who put in his best race of the season at Magny-Cours, followed 2.7 seconds behind. In 17th place, Aegerter had lost touch with the points-scoring positions, whilst Kofler (23rd) and Öttl (28th) will also come away empty-handed.

Roberto Garcia went into the final lap in the lead, but Öncü and Debise were within just 0.4 seconds of him. With an extremely late braking manoeuvre, Öncü reclaimed the lead and defended his position right up to the finish line. Garcia finished second, with Debise third.

The German-speaking riders Aegerter (17th), Kofler (24th) and Öttl (28th) missed out on the points.