FIM Supersport World Championship

Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli, San Marino

June 18, 2016

Qualifying Results (all on Pirelli tires):

From Superpole Two:

1. Federico CARICASULO, Italy (Honda CBR600RR), 1:38.097

2. Kenan SOFUOGLU, Turkey (Kawasaki ZX-6R), 1:38.154

3. PJ JACOBSEN, USA (Honda CBR600RR), 1:38.600

4. Randy KRUMMENACHER, Switzerland (Kawasaki ZX-6R), 1:38.654

5. Christian GAMARINO, Italy (Kawasaki ZX-6R), 1:39.023

6. Ayrton BADOVINI, Italy (Honda CBR600RR), 1:39.117

7. Alessandro ZACCONE, Italy (Kawasaki ZX-6R), 1:39.344

8. Jules CLUZEL, France (MV Agusta F3 675), 1:39.370

9. Illia MIKHALCHIK, Ukraine (Kawasaki ZX-6R), 1:39.450

10. Luke STAPLEFORD, UK (Triumph Daytona 675R), 1:39.556

11. Gino REA, UK (MV Agusta F3 675), 1:39.661

12. Roberto ROLFO, Italy (MV Agusta F3 675), 1:39.876

Others:

34. Braeden ORTT, Canada (Honda CBR600RR), 1:42.908

More, from a press release issued by Dorna WSBK Press Office:

WorldSSP: Rookie Caricasulo Takes Stunning Pole

Incredible weekend continues for Bardahl Evans Bros Honda rider at home

WorldSSP rookie Federico Caricasulo has taken an incredible pole position at his home Round at Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli, beating reigning Champion Kenan Sofuoglu to the top spot by half a tenth. Honda rider PJ Jacobsen completes the front row in P3.

World Supersport Superpole 1 saw a last minute dash to the top of the timesheets, with Sepang winner Ayrton Badovini heading Profile Racing’s Luke Stapleford to move into Tissot-Superpole 2 to join the top ten from Friday. With Randy Krummenacher having been quickest in FP3, the fight for the front row looked set to be titanic, and the tumbling lap times didn’t disappoint.

As the flag dropped at the end of the session, Krummenacher found himself marginally off the front row as Jacobsen edged him by a few hundredths, but the Misano veteran will be looking to push forward immediately in the Race. Second Italian representative at home Christian Gamarino will start from the middle of the second row, ahead of Ayrton Badovini and top ESS rider Alessandro Zaccone.

The rider to have won the last two Races at Misano, Jules Cluzel, starts from P8 at MV Agusta Reparto Corse’s home Round, ahead of Ilya Mikhalchik in P9 and Luke Stapleford rounding out the top ten.

The WorldSSP Race begins in Misano at 11:20am (GMT +2) on Sunday 19th June as the battle rages on and the title hots up.

More, from a press release issued by Kawasaki:

Second And Fourth Grid Spots For Kawasaki Puccetti Racing

Superpole qualifying at Misano for the FIM Supersport World Championship riders saw Kawasaki Puccetti Racing team-mates Kenan Sofuoglu and Randy Krummenacher finish second and fourth on the grid in readiness for Sunday’s 19-lap race.

Starting his Kawasaki Ninja ZX-6R off the front row for the eighth time in eight races this year, Sofuoglu clocked up 90 career front row starts today, fifty of them on Kawasaki machines.

For Krummenacher a change in set-up before Superpole took him away from the optimum bike set-up for the 4.226km circuit. As a result he could not quite get onto the front row, finishing up fourth and surviving a small ‘moment’ on his fastest lap that lost him a small amount of time.

Now the challenge that awaits the Kawasaki Puccetti Racing team is to make sure each of their riders are in position to fight for the win on Sunday to continue their class leading performance. Their pace and consistency has seen them lead all other competitors at the top of the table, with Sofuoglu first and Krummenacher second entering raceday at Misano.

Kenan Sofuoglu, stated: “I cannot say I am disappointed because it was a good qualifying result. No pole but not a problem. I think I was losing time in the last sector and although I was not pushing I also lost the last corner a little bit. This year we have changed the suspension to WP and it is working very well. I feel very strong here now and it was the worst track for us before. In some sessions I was P1 this time. I am happy with the general package we have this year and I am ready for the race tomorrow. We did a good race simulation, the tyre is OK so all is working very well.”

Randy Krummenacher, stated: “For sure I expected more but fourth on the grid is not a drama. I have made some really good starts so I have confidence to immediately pass riders. We made a definite mistake in our set-up direction but we are trying to improve all the time. When you are trying this, at a high level like we are at already, then it is also possible to make mistakes. We have learned from it and we know definitely now which the best direction is for us. This should give us the right set-up for tomorrow’s race, so I am very confident.”

More, from a press release issued by CIA Insurance Honda:

Bergman up to speed at Misano

Sat, 18 Jun 2016

CIA Landlord Insurance Honda’s Christoffer Bergman achieved his best World Supersport qualifying position to date in Superpole 1 today at Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli, illustrating his continued progression in the fiercely competitive WSS class. Christoffer finished SP1 in 4th position, narrowly missing out on qualifying for Superpole 2 and will start the race 14th on the grid in the race tomorrow. Christoffer said: “I lost the last lap as I was close to catching the rear tyre of Khairuddin which was a shame as the sector was red so it would have been more of an improvement but I am happy with my lap time and I am a lot more confident. Obviously this is another step forward from Donington Park and if I can keep this pace in the race here I think the top ten is not far off.”

Hikari Okubo continued to impress in Superpole 2 qualifying 16th after having a time disallowed for allegedly exceeding track limits. He too is looking for a strong points finish inside the top ten.

Kyle Smith’s ankle injury sustained in his crash in FP2 yesterday caused him some discomfort and because of this he was unable to battle for Superpole 1, finishing the day in 20th position.

Stefan Hill’s lap times continued to improve throughout the sessions and he gave his best practice performance to date qualifying in 23rd position.

CIA Landlord Insurance Honda Team Manager, Simon Buckmaster said: “Looking at the positions we expect to do better but Hikari continues to impress in his first season outside of Asia and along with Christoffer is in with a strong chance to challenge for a top 10 finish tomorrow. Kyle is always stronger on race day and he also has time for his physical condition to improve before tomorrow. The team will alter settings that will help Kyle to get best possible result to continue his Championship challenge. Stefan has made the best progress in his World Supersport career so far here at Misano and his aim is to finish inside the top 20 in the race tomorrow.”

More, from a press release issued by Honda:

Jacobsen on front row for Misano World Supersport race

Round 8 – Riviera di Rimini

Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli, Italy

Patrick ‘PJ’ Jacobsen has claimed a spot on the front row of the grid for tomorrow’s eight-round FIM Supersport World Championship race, which will be contested over 19 laps from twelve o’clock at the Misano World Circuit ‘Marco Simoncelli’. The Honda WorldSSP rider was third at the end of today’s closely contested Superpole, with pole position being scored by fellow Honda rider Federico Caricasulo.

Jacobsen made an important step forwards in terms of feeling with his Honda CBR600RR between free practice 3 this morning and Superpole and he was the first rider to move to the top of the timesheets, before being edged out by Sofuoglu by only 0.002secs. On his final quick-lap attempt before the chequered flag, the 22-year-old American made a small mistake that cost him the opportunity for a pole position, but his 1’38.600 was quick enough to secure his fourth front-row start of the season.

Patrick Jacobsen 2

3rd

I have to say I’m happy with today’s Superpole lap-time, although it could have been a bit quicker if I hadn’t run wide at turn 1. Given the difficulties we encountered so far this weekend, it was an encouraging performance. I was really on the limit, so for tomorrow we need to improve a couple more things, get a good understanding of the bike in the warm-up and be ready for the race. We just need to make the most of the last fifteen minutes of practice we still have.

Pieter Breddels

Technical Manager

We made some important steps forwards between this morning and Superpole after trying some new front-fork settings in free practice 3. PJ’s feeling with the bike improved considerably in almost every area and that allowed him to attack Superpole 2 the way he always does. If we consider how the weekend started, a first row start is a really good result. We are still not 100% with set-up but a podium position is within our reach. We’ll try to make good use of the warm up and be fully ready for tomorrow. I would take the time congratulate Federico Caricasulo and the Evan Bros. team with their pole position.