FIM Supersport World Championship Magny-Cours, France October 6, 2012 Final Qualifying Results (all on Pirelli tires): 1. Broc PARKES, Australia (Honda CBR600RR), 1:41.545 2. Fabien FORET, France (Kawasaki ZX-6R), 1:41.742 3. Jules CLUZEL, France (Honda CBR600RR), 1:41.886 4. Kenan SOFUOGLU, Turkey (Kawasaki ZX-6R), 1:41.937 5. Sam LOWES, UK (Honda CBR600RR), 1:41.943 6. Gabor TALMACSI, Hungary (Honda CBR600RR), 1:42.108 7. Sheridan MORAIS, South Africa (Kawasaki ZX-6R), 1:42.265 8. Vittorio IANNUZZO, Italy (Triumph Daytona 675), 1:42.440 9. Massimo ROCCOLI, Italy (Yamaha YZF-R6), 1:42.454 10. Alex BALDOLINI, Italy (Triumph Daytona 675), 1:42.499 More, from a press release issued by PTR Honda: Jules on the front row in front of home crowd PTR HONDA’S Jules Cluzel will start the 13th and final round of the World Supersport Championship from third on the grid at Magny Cours in France and is ready to fight for the victory and enjoy the race tomorrow. Ronan Quarmby improved his lap time but slipped to 12th on the third row of the grid after traffic held him back. He has consistently proved to be a better racer than qualifier so is expecting to fight in the top 10 in the race. Riders PTR Honda racer Martin Jessopp also improved his lap time but remains in 24th and within striking distance of the points if he gets a good start in the race, which starts at 1330 CET on Sunday, October 7th. Jules: “We had a problem braking this morning and we thought we had fixed it but it came back in the afternoon. It was really strange for me; I started qualifying thinking I could go faster. I could not understand what was happening. I am a little disappointed as I was hoping to do the fastest lap time because yesterday I felt really good. Anyway, tomorrow is the race and this is most important and I will enjoy it.” Ronan: “Although I went faster today, I could have gone faster again except for traffic holding me back in qualifying. I think we have better pace than 12th place and tomorrow I’ll be going all out and expect to be fighting inside the top 10, I feel good and my PTR Honda is strong, so bring it on.” Martin: “It is frustrating not to qualify any higher but I expect to do better in the race as I am not the best over just one lap. It is my last race of the year and I’ll be looking for a good result to finish the season, I would really like more points and I’ll be doing my best, that’s for sure.” Simon Buckmaster, PTR Honda Team Manager: “Jules had a problem braking today and he was unable to improve his time from yesterday. We are looking carefully at his bike now and will have it running just as he likes it tomorrow. We are sure he has the pace to challenge at the front- he is very motivated. Ronan got held up by traffic on his fast lap and that is the only reason he is 12th and not any higher. Slow traffic holding up faster riders has been a problem for us here as it held up Sam Lowes on the Bogdanka PTR Honda as well. Martin is still improving with every session and time he rides the bike. He needs a strong start to challenge for the points in the race.” More, from a press release issued by Bogdanka PTR Honda: Lowes fifth on the grid for final race BOGDANKA PTR HONDA’s Sam Lowes will start tomorrow’s final race of the 2012 World Supersport Championship from fifth on the grid. The Briton was caught in traffic in the final moments of the second qualifying but is confident he can finish the season in high fashion on Sunday. Mathew Scholtz on the other Bogdanka PTR Honda was looking to consolidate his second row starting position after Friday’s first qualifying but a sensor problem baulked him and means that he’ll have to start the race from 16th on the grid. However, the South African rookie has also shown a solid race pace and is targeting a strong end to his first World Supersport season. Miguel Praia moved himself up to 27th on the final grid onboard his Bogdanka Honda PTR bike but he also had to deal with traffic in the final moments of the session. The Portuguese rider will be aiming to close down on the point scoring top 15 when the race starts tomorrow at 13:30 CET. Sam Lowes: “At the end of the session, when I went for a fast lap, I got blocked by a lot of traffic. It’s not an excuse but my ideal lap time was a 1:41.5 and that would’ve been good enough for pole. I’m a little bit disappointed because I had the potential to be on the front row but we have a good race pace and I’m really looking forward to tomorrow. Let’s see what happens but I feel good and can’t wait for the race.” Mathew Scholtz: “We changed a few things for the second free practice and tried a few tyres. The lap times improved and I was hoping to go faster than I did yesterday in the second qualifying but when we put the second rear tyre on, we had a small problem with the sensor and I had to pull in. I didn’t have the chance to push for a fast lap, but I’m very confident for the race. We have a good pace and can fight for a top ten finish.” Miguel Praia: “We’ve worked on the setup and improved the bike compared to yesterday and I was feeling really confident before the last stint in qualifying. Unfortunately, when I went out for the qualifying lap, I got blocked and so we’re a bit down on the grid but we have a good bike, the whole team is working well and I feel we can have a pretty good race tomorrow to end the 2012 season on a high.” Simon Buckmaster, Bogdanka PTR Honda Team Manager: “Sam had the pace to challenge for pole position but was held up by traffic which is very frustrating. We expect Sam to be racing at the sharp end and fighting for the podium – he certainly has the pace. Mathew dropped to 16thdespite improving today but he also has good race pace and we are looking at him challenging for a good top 10 finish to end his season.” More, from a press release issued by Kawasaki: Front Row Starts For Sofuoglu And Foret WSS, Magny-Cours, France, 6 October 2012 Kenan Sofuoglu (Kawasaki Lorenzini) won the championship at Portimao out but he is still determined to win the last race of 2012. He declared his intent by putting his Ninja ZX-6R on the front row. Kenan was fourth and his team-mate Sheridan Morais seventh, bit top Kawasaki qualifier was Intermoto Step team rider Fabien Foret, who was second fastest after combined qualifying. The French rider was a popular sight for the local fans on the front row and his fellow countryman and team-mate Romain Lanusse was 20th. For Sofuoglu a strong finish to a year which has shown his true abilities on the fast Ninja ZX-6R is essential to underline his third championship success, but for all the riders the weather may play a wild card part on raceday with rains due at some stage of the proceedings. MSD R-N Team India Kawasaki riders Dan Linfoot and Florian Marino qualified 11th and 13th respectively today, with Marino another local rider in Kawasaki colours in France. Kenan Sofuoglu: “A front row start and today we brought the bike to a good level compared to yesterday. We put every set-up modification into it in the final session and I was looking set to take pole position maybe, but a slower rider really stopped me. I still think we are very strong. If tomorrow is a dry race I feel I can run the race I want. The goal is to win the race and really strongly because in the last race I want to show our power. It looks like in dry conditions we are very fast. It does look like it will rain so we have to work in morning warm-up if it is wet.” Sheridan Morais: “Not too bad to be on the second row. In the middle of the final session today we put on a race tyre and I did my best time then we went out again with ten minutes to go but there was crazy traffic out there. Everyone was trying to cut through it but I just could not better my time. Even with that I managed to do a lot of low 1’42s in the traffic, so I am happy for our chances tomorrow. I just hope that it stays dry so that we can use our best set-up.”