FIM Supersport World Championship Nurburgring, Germany September 9, 2012 Race Results (all on Pireli tires): 1. Kenan SOFUOGLU, Turkey (Kawasaki ZX-6R), 19 laps, 38:13.709 2. Jules CLUZEL, France (Honda CBR600RR), -0.541 second 3. Fabien FORET, France (Kawasaki ZX-6R), -6.258 seconds 4. Broc PARKES, Australia (Honda CBR600RR), -10.345 5. Vladimir LEONOV, Russia (Yamaha YZF-R6), -17.851 6. Alex BALDOLINI, Italy (Triumph Daytona 675), -18.303 7. Gabor TALMACSI, Hungary (Honda CBR600RR), -22.366 8. Vittorio IANNUZZO, Italy (Triumph Daytona 675), -27.230 9. David LINORTNER, Austria (Yamaha YZF-R6), -33.213 10. Ronan QUARMBY, South Africa (Honda CBR600RR), -33.526 11. Massimo ROCCOLI, Italy (Yamaha YZF-R6), -35.932 12. Romain LANUSSE, France (Kawasaki ZX-6R), -36.146 13. Florian MARINO, France (Kawasaki ZX-6R), -39.446 14. Sam LOWES, UK (Honda CBR600RR), -41.099, crash 15. Andrea ANTONELLI, Italy (Yamaha YZF-R6), -47.345 World Championship Point Standings (after 11 of 13 races): 1. Sofuoglu, 198 points 2. Cluzel, 160 3. Foret, 144 4. Lowes, 140 5. Parkes, 122 6. Morais, 84 7. Baldolini, 77 8. Quarmby, 76 9. Leonov/Iannuzzo, 59 More, from a press release issued by PTR Honda: ON his first visit to the Nurburgring in Germany for the 11th round of the World Supersport Championship, PTR Honda’s Jules Cluzel took a hard-fought second place after being in contention for the win from start to finish. Jules was the only rider able to challenge eventual winner, Kawasaki’s Kenan Sofuoglu. Jules’ second place cements his second place in the Championship standings. Ronan Quarmby got up as high as sixth and finished a solid 10th. Martin Jessopp on the Riders PTR Honda finished 20th after starting 30th. The penultimate round of the World Supersport Championship takes place at Portimao in Portugal on Sunday 23rd September. Jules: “I am very happy with the race and to finish in a close second place in such a good fight with Kenan. I always knew he would be strong today and I was able to compete with him right until the very end. Thank you to PTR Honda for giving me a bike that can fight for the race wins and I will be doing my best at the last two rounds to finish the season with another victory.” Ronan: “I am happy for another top 10 finish. I got a good start but lost time mid-race before regrouping and going faster at the end. It is very close between sixth – 10th in the Championship and I’ll be doing my best in the last two rounds.” Martin: “Starting at the back I took the gamble of going round the outside and got past a few guys. It took me a couple of laps to get past the next rider but the group in front had got away. I was matching their times and kept the same gap. It would have been nice to qualify better as I have the same pace as the lads in front and my end of race pace was good. We’ll work on qualifying at Portimao.” Simon Buckmaster, PTR Honda Team Manager: “Another fantastic race by Jules with Kenan. It is still not over yet and we will keep trying to see if we can improve and win the last two races – good job by Jules and whole team. It was a good start by Ronan but his times went away in the middle of the race before he came back again, a solid 10th. Martin had too much too do after qualifying, we need to do something about that.” More, from a press release issued by Bogdanka PTR Honda: BOGDANKA PTR HONDA’s Sam Lowes crashed just four laps from the finish of round 11 of the World Supersport Championship while fighting for a podium at the Nurburgring in Germany. The Briton remounted to cross the line in 14th, but is now without mathematical chances of clinching the 2012 title. After point scoring finishes in the last two races, Mathew Scholtz was clipped by another rider, which brought an early end to the race on his 20th birthday. As Lowes, the South African is now fully focused on going out for a strong result in the last two races of the season. Miguel Praia finished the race in 17th position on his return to World Supersport Championship with the Bogdanka Honda PTR team, with the penultimate round of the series taking place in two weeks time at Portimao in Portugal. Sam Lowes: “I’m really angry. I’ve made a mistake and lost the front. I’d like to apologise to everyone, both the whole Bogdanka PTR Honda team and our fans. There are still two races to go until the end of the season so let’s go out and finish the year on a high at Portimao and Magny Cours.” Mathew Scholtz: “What can I say? It seems that the bad luck keeps following us this season. Another rider tried to pass me and clipped my handlebar and that was it. Anyway, I’m already looking forward to Portimao and can’t wait to see what the track is like there.” Miguel Praia: “It was a good but hard race. I was fighting for a point but in the end had to settle with 17th after a very hard battle right until the end. We’ve made progress all through the weekend and I’m happy with my World Supersport return. I’d like to say thank you to Bogdanka and Mike Piasecki. It was a pleasure to work together. The team worked very well and it’s just a shame I wasn’t able to say thanks with some points but we’ve all done our best and it was a good weekend.” Simon Buckmaster, Bogdanka PTR Honda Team Manager: “We are disappointed that Sam crashed and could not finish any higher than 14th. He has dropped to fourth in the Championship but he is only four points behind Foret; we need to beat him in the last two races to get into top three in the Championship. Mathew had a coming together with another rider on lap one and crashed which is very disappointing for Mathew and the team, however we will learn from this and move on to the next one.” More, from a press release issued by Power Team by Suriano: The Power Team by Suriano leaves Germany with a smile on its face. On the track of Nurburgring Alex Baldolini and Vittorio Iannuzzo were protagonists of two great performances. They kicked off respectively from 10th and 20th place, to then find themselves after the first lap fighting for the 13th and 14th position. Improving lap after lap and getting rid off their slower competitors they make it to the group that was fighting for the 5th place. Baldolini in the meanwhile gained a few seconds over Iannuzzo, who was fighting to overtake his rival in the ranking, Tamburini. Alex managed to take over Gabor Talbacsi and Vladimir Leonov making it to the 5th place. But this effort caused him lack of grip and he had to gave up the place to the competitor. Iannuzzo, after having seen a slip by Tamburini,opted for a more conservative action within sight of the ranking and decided to set aside the duel with Talmacsi. Now the two italian riders occupy the 7th and 10th placing in the general ranking and they brought the team to the 5th place in the team ranking, on a total number of 21 teams joining the championship. Alex Baldolini Triumph Daytona 675 #25 – “I’m quite satisfied by the day. I’m happy for the good race during which I had fun riding a perfectly set bike. But I’m a bit disappointed if I think about the way it could have go. I made a mistake at the start and I lost some positions and the contact with the leading group. My rythm was the same as theirs so I knew my potential. This was a new track for me, and so will be the next two.This result gives me the right strengh and opimism to dispute the season finale in crescendo.” Vittorio Iannuzzo Triumph Daytona 675 #31 “During practices I had hard times trying to find the right setting and I kicked off from the 4th row. Then, things were going better during the race and I had to manage some overtakes to gain the 8th place. If only i could have start in a better placing, things would have gone differently. But it’s ok, I gained some scores and I’m now willing to mantein or even improve this 10th place in the general ranking. I can’t wait for the next two rounds that will take place in Portimao and Magny Cours, two of my favourite track”. Antonio Ninetto Suriano – team owner – “I’m really happy about my team and riders managed this round. They were great and I only have to be thankfull for the excellent work they all are doing in this season finale. I mean, we are a small “reality” with a limited budget and you can find us at the 5th place on the general ranking!! This is a great satisfaction for me and is a sign that our hard work is paying off.” More, from a press release issued by Kawasaki: Fourth Win For Sofuoglu Pushes His Lead To 38 Points WSS, Nürburgring, Germany, 9 September 2012 Kenan Sofuoglu turned a fourth place grid position into his fourth race win of the year on his Kawasaki Lorenzini Ninja ZX-6R and he was joined on the podium by Kawasaki Intermoto Step’s Fabien Foret. Sofuoglu led every lap of the full 19 under sunny German skies and held off the consistent push of Jules Cluzel by 0.5 seconds at the flag. Cluzel is the only rider who has a mathematical chance of beating Kenan to he championship title now, as Fabien Foret (Kawasaki Intermoto Step) is 54 points behind after the German round, with only 50 points available for any rider who wins both remaining races, at Portimao and Magny-Cours. He extended his record breaking career total of win in this class to 21 today. Sofuoglu admitted that his usual tactic of going for the win every Sunday may be modified at the next round, but his front-running push has been so successful so often this year he will at least start out the Portimao weekend looking for win number five. Sheridan Morais (Kawasaki Lorenzini) had an unlucky raceday, his bike stopping out on track after five laps had been completed, when the failure of a sensor in the electronics system prevented further progress. Sheridan is still in sixth place, on 84 points. Foret’s third place in Germany was his fifth podium of the year, including his two race wins, and he moved up to third in the rankings after Sam Lowes fell and remounted, only to finish 13th. Foret is three points ahead of the English rider now. Foret’s team-mate Romain Lanusse posted a good 11th place on his Kawasaki Intermoto Step Ninja ZX-6R, one place ahead of Florian Marino (MSD R-N Team India Kawasaki). Dan Linfoot (MSD R-N Team India Kawasaki) was forced out by a crash on lap five. Kenan Sofuoglu: “I raced here for the first time in 2002, in a one make championship, and although I have come here many times since I could never win the race. Finally I have won this race and I’m happy about it. My career really started in Germany so it is nice to win the race here. Before coming here my goal was to win this race because I knew if I won I just had to finish the race in Portimao to become World Champion again. I have reached my goal here and now in Portimao of course I will ride for points, but if I can see the chance I will try to win the race in Portugal.” Sheridan Morais: “We had an electrical problem in the race, just a sensor that stopped working and halted the bike. It all happened pretty early so not much to say. I feel pretty bad for the team and for myself but I am not going to go drowning my sorrows. The team worked really hard, until 4am this morning, getting the bike ready for the race after yesterday’s big crash. Nothing was put together wrong, it was just a sensor, so I feel for the guys. We will be positive for the next one and try to be up there.” Fabien Foret: “I have to say that a third place was a little unexpected but a good reward for the team and all of us. I think we can still take a some more podiums and the way I am feeling I could go on racing for another ten years!”