FIM Supersport World Championship

Chang International Circuit, Thailand

March 12, 2016

Superpole Two Results (all on Pirelli tires):

1. Jules Cluzel, France (MV F3 675), 1:38.383

2. Randy Krummenacher, Switzerland (Kaw ZX-6R), 1:38.477

3. Kenan Sofuoglu, Turkey (Kaw ZX-6R), 1:38.612

4. PJ Jacobsen, USA (Hon CBR600RR), 1:38.685

5. Alex Baldolini, Italy (MV F3 675), 1:38.843

6. Kyle Smith, UK (Hon CBR600RR), 1:38.863

7. Rathapong Wilairot, Thailand (Hon CBR600RR), 1:39.017

8. Nico Terol, Spain (MV F3 675), 1:39.167

9. Gino Rea, UK (MV F3 675), 1:39.324

10. Luke Stapleford, UK (Hon CBR600RR), 1:39.361

11. Kevin Wahr, Germany (Hon CBR600RR), 1:39.423

12. H. Okubo, Japan (Hon CBR600RR), 1:40.228

More, from a press release issued by MV Agusta:

CHANG SUPERPOLE WON BY CLUZEL AND MV AGUSTA REPARTO CORSE

12 MARCH 2016

MV Agusta Reparto Corse rider Jules Cluzel won the WorldSSP Tissot-Superpole at Chang International Circuit and tomorrow will start the race from the very first position on the grid.

With the team solving all the issues suffered at the Australian Round, Cluzel got a very positive feeling with his MV Agusta F3 675 and, thanks to an outstanding 1’38.383 fast lap today, he notched up his 1st WorldSSP Pole Position of the season.

Cluzel’s teammate Lorenzo Zanetti encountered several problems with the setting of his bike along most of the qualifying session and he will line up for tomorrow’s race on row 6, starting from the 16th position. Despite the difficult grid position, Zanetti hopes in a very good starts in order to pass as many riders as possibile since the first corners.

Jules Cluzel #16 – I am really happy with this pole position because in the end we found a solution to our small problems. I think we can make a good race tomorrow even if it will be really difficult for sure because I expect an hard fight race, in very hard weather condition but I will give my best and hopefully we can achieve a great result at the end of the day. Thanks to my team for their hard and positive work.

Lorenzo Zanetti #87 – It was a difficult week-end so far. We tried different setting on my bike but in the end I still can’t ride the way I want. I must figure out how to get the right feeling with the bike, the one I have always had and that allows me to be in top 3. Starting from the 16th position will make it harder but I will give my best to get a good finish.

More, from a press release issued by Kawasaki Motors Europe:

WSS Superpole Sees Krummenacher And Sofuoglu On The Front Row

Kawasaki Puccetti Racing riders Randy Krummenacher and Kenan Sofuoglu qualified second and third respectively in Superpole 2 at the FIM Supersport World Championship round in Thailand, leaving them in ideal front row starting positions for Sunday’s 17-lap race.

On his first visit to the 4.554km Thai circuit Phillip Island race winner Krummenacher worked at finding a strong pace and race set-up, having been fastest man in today’s earlier third free practice session. On his Ninja ZX-6R he finished just 0.094 seconds from pole man Jules Cluzel after the final pre-race Superpole 2 session had been completed.

Four-time world champion Sofuoglu used all his experience to make improvements in his overall machine set-up, having been 13th in Friday’s first track outing, then second on Friday evening. He currently leads the Tissot Superpole Award points table, after taking pole position in Australia and being third in Superpole in Thailand.

Track conditions slowly improved over the two days of practice and qualifying, but slippery parts remain where the circuit was recently resurfaced at some points.

The WSS race is scheduled to start at 14.20 local time in Thailand on Sunday 13th.

Randy Krummenacher stated: “A front row starting position is always something good. I improved one position over where I qualified in Australia so that was also a positive. Qualifying was still pretty hard and I had a few mistakes, maybe too many to go first, so I am very pleased with second. Our pace is very constant so I am very confident for the race. It is going to be a long race! I think we can still improve a little bit for tomorrow. Thanks to the team and Kawasaki and for the great support here from the spectators; they are unreal.”

Kenan Sofuoglu stated: “It is coming better and we are starting from the front row, which gives you extra motivation as a rider. For sure at the moment we are still working at going faster and faster. Racing is a completely different story from qualifying. The race is over 17-laps and I can push very hard. Let’s see who is going to fight for the win in the race. The track is coming better, but of course compared to last year we are one second slower. I think this is because of the high temperatures and there are some parts of the track that are slippery compared to last year.”

Zulfahmi Khairuddin (Orelac Racing VerdNatura) was 13th on the grid, Ondrej Jezek (team GO ELEVEN Kawasaki) 17th and his team-mate Christian Gamarino placed 20th.

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

WorldSSP: Cluzel clinches pole at Chang International Circuit

Frenchman less than a tenth clear of points leader Krummenacher

MV Agusta rider Jules Cluzel has beaten the Puccetti pair of Randy Krummenacher and Kenan Sofuoglu to Pole Position in Buriram after a late lap saw him cross the line 0.094 clear.

It was Japanese rider Hikari Okubo and German rider Kevin Wahr who claimed the final two spots in Tissot-Superpole 2 in WorldSSP in Buriram, as Malaysian rider Zulfahmi Khairuddin marginally missed out on the top 12 on his first outing at Chang International Circuit.

Jules Cluzel, who led the majority of last year’s race in Buriram before a mechanical problem saw him retire, set a late charge for pole position after a Friday that had seemed to see him on the back foot. The MV Agusta rider clinched P1 on his final lap of the session, punching the air in celebration as he saw the result once over the line.

Points leader Randy Krummenacher set a number of incredibly competitive laps in his bid to take the honour from the Frenchman before being forced to settle for P2 by less than a tenth of a second. The Swiss rider is a rookie this year and had never ridden at Chang International Circuit until this weekend, so a front row will surely be a great result for the Puccetti rider.

After a photo finish in Thailand last year from pole position, defending Champion Kenan Sofuoglu completes the front row in third. Outpacing the field in Phillip Island before a tyre problem saw him unable to finish the race, the Turkish rider will be wanting a good haul of points in Sunday’s WorldSSP race to begin his title defence proper.

A.P. Honda Racing Thailand’s wildcard entry, Ratthapong Wilairot, will start seventh on the grid after topping Friday’s combined practice times. The Thai rider came fifth in the WorldSSP race in his home country last year, also riding as a wildcard, and should pose a good threat to the front once again.

Lights go out for the WorldSSP race on Sunday at 14:20 local time (7:20am GMT).

Motul Thai Round – WorldSSP Tissot-Superpole

1. Jules Cluzel (FRA) MV Agusta Reparto Corse 1’38.383

2. Randy Krummenacher (SUI) Kawasaki Puccetti Racing +0.094

3. Kenan Sofuoglu (TUR) Kawasaki Puccetti Racing +0.229

More, from a press release issued by Honda World Supersport Team:

Positive qualifying for PJ Jacobsen at Chang International Circuit

Round 2 – Thailand

Chang International Circuit, Thailand

The second-round qualifying session for the 2016 FIM Supersport World Championship was contested today at the Chang International Circuit in Thailand under sunny conditions, with PJ Jacobsen and the Honda WorldSSP Team able to secure fourth spot on the grid for tomorrow’s 17-lap race.

Thanks to some successful changes to the set-up of the Honda CBR600RR #2 made between this morning’s free practice three and the second Superpole session, Jacobsen was able to improve his personal best lap-time by almost 1.3 seconds. The 22-year-old American clocked in 1’38.685s, missing out on a front-row start by only 73 thousandths of a second.

The team will now analyse the data gathered today, in order to test some more changes to the settings tomorrow morning during the 15-minute warm up, scheduled to begin at 11:25 local time. The second WorldSSP race of the season will get underway at 14:20 (GMT +7).

Patrick Jacobsen 2

4th / 1’38.685

Today went OK. Yesterday we struggled a little bit in finding the right set-up for our bike, especially at the rear. We are still trying to figure out the best suspension settings and to fine tune the package a little bit. We have definitely improved our pace but we need something more for a top result. We hope to find it in the warm up, so we can attack right from the get go.

Pieter Breddels

Technical Manager

PJ did well in both free practice and qualifying today. Fourth is a good place where to start the race, it’s a shame we missed a front row start for such a small gap, but every thousandth of a second can make a big difference in this sport. We’re still not completely happy with the bike so we are looking at some changes to make in order to be able to fight for top honours tomorrow.