FIM Supersport World Championship Moscow Raceway Moscow, Russia August 22, 2012 Overall Test Results (all on Pirelli tires): 1. Sam LOWES, UK (Honda CBR600RR), 1:38.548 2. Jules CLUZEL, France (Honda CBR600RR), 1:38.596 3. Broc PARKES, Australia (Honda CBR600RR), 1:38.794 4. Kenan SOFUOGLU, Turkey (Kawasaki ZX-6R), 1:39.021 5. Vladimir LEONOV, Russia (Yamaha YZF-R6), 1:39.448 6. Sheridan MORAIS, South Africa (Kawasaki ZX-6R), 1:39.531 7. Fabien FORET, France (Kawasaki ZX-6R), 1:39.537 8. Roberto TAMBURINI, Italy (Honda CBR600RR), 1:39.568 9. Gabor TALMACSI, Hungary (Honda CBR600RR), 1:39.582 10. Ronan QUARMBY, South Africa (Honda CBR600RR), 1:39.711 19. Josh DAY, USA (Kawasaki ZX-6R), 1:40.979 More, from a press release issued by PTR Honda: PTR HONDA’S Jules Cluzel topped the morning session and finished second in the afternoon and overall to his Bogdanka PTR team mate Sam Lowes on his first test at the Moscow Raceway in Russia, that is set to host this weekend’s 10th round of the World Supersport Championship. Ronan Quarmby finished the two 90-minute sessions on his PTR Honda in 10th place just over one second behind. Martin Jessopp on his Riders PTR Honda was 25th after slashing his time between sessions by over two seconds. There are practice and qualifying sessions on Friday and Saturday before the race takes place at 1330 local time at Moscow Raceway on Sunday, 26th August. Jules: “Yeah I am happy, the feeling with my bike is OK and I am enjoying riding in Russia. We have been competitive at every race and I think we will be here as well. Just at the end there was too much traffic on track with everyone waiting so I wasn’t able to improve my lap time; but this is not so important as this is just a test. I am happy and already think we have a good feeling for the race.” Ronan: “Today went OK but I suffered a fall losing the front end in the second session which didn’t help. I spent the time trying to get used to the track. The corners are very tight and come back on themselves, I need to learn and get used to them. I want to be further up with the front guys come race weekend.” Martin: “It is good to be in Moscow and learning a new track with everyone else, although I would prefer to be higher up the timesheets. I know my way round now and will be looking to improve over the race weekend. We made big steps between sessions today and I’ll want to do the same again.” Simon Buckmaster, PTR Honda Team Manager: “It’s been a good day for Jules and both he and Sam are carrying on positive momentum from Silverstone. Ronan is showing impressive form and there is more to come from him. Martin has some work to do on a new track but everyone is learning so the field is levelled a bit for him here.” Test Times 1. Sam Lowes GBR Bogdanka PTR Honda CBR600RR 1m 38.548s 2. Jules Cluzel FRA PTR Honda CBR600RR 1m 38.596s 3. Broc Parkes AUS Ten Kate Honda CBR600RR 1m 38.794s 4. Kenan Sofuoglu TUR Kawasaki Lorenzini ZX-6R 1m 39.021s 5. Vladimir Leonov RUS Yakhnich Yamaha YZF-R6 1m 39.448s 6. Sheridan Morais RSA Kawasaki Lorenzini ZX-6R 1m 39.531s 7. Fabien Foret FRA Intermoto Step Kawasaki ZX-6R 1m 39.537s 8. Roberto Tamburini ITA Lorini Honda CBR600RR 1m 39.568s 9. Gabor Talmacsi HUN ProRace Honda CBR600RR 1m 39.582s 10. Ronan Quarmby RSA PTR Honda CBR600RR 1m 38.711s 12. Mathew Scholtz RSA Bogdanka PTR Honda CBR600RR 1m 39.938s 25. Martin Jessopp GBR Riders PTR Honda CBR600RR 1m 41.804s More, from a press release issued by Bogdanka PTR Honda: BOGDANKA PTR HONDA’s Sam Lowes topped the Wednesday test ahead of the tenth round of the World Supersport Championship at the new Moscow Raceway circuit as he aims to further reduce the 14 point gap to the overall lead this weekend. His rookie teammate, Mathew Scholtz, was 12th fastest and is looking to repeat his point scoring performance from Silverstone on a circuit which is new not only to the South African but the entire World Supersport field. Double Polish Champion, Andrzej Chmielewski joins the Bogdanka Honda PTR squad for the upcoming weekend with the 22-year-old targeting continuous progress during his World Supersport debut after posting the 33rd time in the test. Sunday’s race will start at 13:30 local time, 11:30 CET. Sam Lowes: “It was good to relax after Silverstone but I’ve also trained a lot and I’m looking forward to the last four races of the season. The test today was good. We learned a lot and I enjoyed it. The first thing was to learn the track as it’s a completely new one. In the second session I knew it well enough to work a bit on a few things and it was just nice to do some work without the pressure of the race weekend. Overall it’s been a really good day and I can’t wait for the weekend now. The track is very technical and the first part is quite tight but then it opens up and is quite fast in the second half. There’s a lot of up and downs, direction and camber changes, so it’s a very nice track. I can tell already that the racing will be tight, close and exciting on Sunday. We have four races to go and it’s a very important part of the Championship so I know I need to go out and do the best job I can. Our aim is to challenge for the title and we’ll do our best.” Mathew Scholtz: “We were focusing on learning the circuit and finding the best setup for the weekend. I’m very happy with the work we have done today. The track is tighter than I thought but I like it. I was quite fast in some parts but struggled a little bit in other places so hopefully on Friday I can keep improving ahead of the race and keep going faster. Moscow means a new track for everybody, and not just me, and I’m really looking forward to going out there again on my Bogdanka PTR Honda. Scoring points at Silverstone was definitely a big confidence boost for me and I hope that I can carry that into Moscow and have an equally good weekend here.” Andrzej Chmielewski: “The Bogdanka Honda PTR squad is one of the best in the paddock and the bikes are very competitive so it’s a great opportunity to compete together in Russia. Today’s test was very important. I was quite shocked to discover how big is the difference between a Superstock and the Bogdanka Honda PTR Supersport machine, but I really like it. Not only do I need to learn a new track but also a new bike, so I knew I needed a little bit of time today. I took a step-by-step approach and didn’t want to make any mistakes but by the end of the day I was feeling quite comfortable. I’m confident we can still make a lot of progress, so I’m looking forward to the weekend. I really like that track too. Some of the kerbs were really slippery today but we’re told that will be sorted for the weekend, so it’s all good.” Simon Buckmaster, Bogdanka PTR Honda Team Manager: “Sam has had a good start to the Moscow Raceway round and along with Jules Cluzel on the PTR Honda is carrying momentum from Silverstone. Mathew continues to impress and finished the test in 12th. He shows the potential to get his best result of the season this weekend.”