FIM Supersport World Championship
Autodromo Internazionale Enzo e Dino Ferrari, Imola, Italy
April 29, 2016
Free Practice Two Results (all on Pirelli tires):
1. Kenan SOFUOGLU, Turkey (Kawasaki ZX-6R), 1:51.841
2. Alessandro ZACCONE, Italy (Kawasaki ZX-6R), 1:52.082
3. Federico CARICASULO, Italy (Honda CBR600RR), 1:52.153
4. Randy KRUMMENACHER, Switzerland (Kawasaki ZX-6R), 1:52.224
5. Jules CLUZEL, France (MV Agusta F3 675), 1:52.409
6. PJ JACOBSEN, USA (Honda CBR600RR), 1:52.425
7. Gino REA, UK (MV Agusta F3 675), 1:52.496, crash
8. Lorenzo ZANETTI, Italy (MV Agusta F3 675), 1:52.593
9. Ayrton BADOVINI, Italy (Honda CBR600RR), 1:52.639
10. Ondrej JEZEK, Czech Republic (Kawasaki ZX-6R), 1:52.788
36. Braeden ORTT, Canada (Honda CBR600RR), 1:59.710
More, from a press release issued by Dorna WSBK Press Office:
WorldSSP: Sofuoglu reigns as Krummenacher closes up
Defending Champion quickest after first day on track at Imola
Kawasaki Puccetti Racing rider Kenan Sofuoglu has topped the first practice session at the Autodromo Internazionale Enzo e Dino Ferrari in Imola, leading ESS San Carlo Team Italia rider Alessandro Zaccone and his compatriot Federico Caricasulo. Reigning Champion Sofuoglu has thus far been chasing teammate Randy Krummenacher in the points standings since Phillip Island, and took advantage of his rookie teammate not knowing the Autodromo Internazionale Enzo e Dino Ferrari to gain an advantage in the inter-team battle on Day 1.
Alessandro Zaccone, a rider forming part of the FIM Europe Supersport Cup, was the fastest Italian after a large improvement from FP1 to take his San Carlo Team Italia bike into P2, just ahead of fellow rookie Federico Caricasulo for Bardahl Evan Bros. Honda Racing. Both Zaccone and local Ravennate rider Caricasulo have shown great pace already in 2016 and further impressed at their home round, gaining entry to Tissot-Superpole 2.
Rookie Krummenacher ended FP1 in P11 after his first contact with the Imola circuit, and put in an incredible show of improvement in FP2 to end the day in P4 overall. Never having ridden at the daunting Autodromo Internazionale Enzo e Dino Ferrari, the Swiss Championship leader can be more than satisfied with a much reduced gap to his veteran teammate Sofuoglu after the second session of the weekend.
MV Agusta Reparto Corse had more home glory to be proud of with Frenchman Jules Cluzel ending Friday in P5, just ahead of key 2015 title rival PJ Jacobsen on the Honda in P6. GRT rider Gino Rea kept his MV Agusta in P6 just behind the American by the end of the opening day, despite a crash in the final five minutes of FP2. Lorenzo Zanetti, Cluzel’s MV Agusta Reparto Corse teammate, finished the day in P8 ahead of Ayrton Badovini from Team Lorini and Team GOELEVEN’s Ondrej Jezek in P9 and P10 respectively.
WorldSSP Tissot-Superpole begins on Saturday at 11:30am local time (GMT +2), as those just outside the top ten fight through Superpole 1 to decide the grid for the race, with lights out at 11:20am on Sunday.
More, from a press release issued by Honda:
Solid work on race distance for PJ Jacobsen on opening day at Imola
Round 5 – Italy
Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari, Italy
PJ Jacobsen and the Honda WorldSSP Team have concluded the first day of action for the FIM Supersport World Championship at Imola in sixth place, with some good positives to bring into tomorrow’s free practice 3 and Superpole 2 sessions. The 22-year-old American spent almost the whole two-hour track-time available today working on race pace around the 4.936km Italian circuit, which proved once again to suit the Honda CBR600RR very well.
In the final minutes of the second session, Jacobsen was not able to put together a super quick-lap attempt that would have moved him further up the order. This was not helped by the vast field of 37 Supersport riders on track, a situation that characterises the European rounds, which include the FIM Europe Supersport Cup runners. WorldSSP action resumes tomorrow morning for the 15-minute FP3 session, scheduled at 9:15 local time (GMT+2) before the fifth-round Superpole, the second session of which begins at 11:55.
Patrick Jacobsen 2
6th / 1’52.425
Today we were able to do a great job, especially on race pace. I have been out on track a lot and put in a large number of laps; we didn’t use many tyres and this is why the fast lap didn’t come, but that wasn’t our concern for today. The bike feels really good in race configuration – we just needed a couple of small changes – but apart from that everything worked fine out of the box. I’m now really looking forward to tomorrow and hopefully we will make one step forward and have a good qualifying session.
Pieter Breddels
Technical Manager
We made a couple of adjustments to the bike set-up with ride height and damper settings during the day but it was mostly about putting in as many laps as possible, in order for PJ to get some rhythm and build confidence with the bike again. We ran a decent amount of laps with used tyres and the race simulation that came out was really promising. We just weren’t the fastest over a single lap due to some traffic, but we are not worried about it. We’re in the position we want to be and we hope to do even better tomorrow.