FIM Supersport World Championship Brno, Czech Republic July 21, 2012 Final Qualifying Results (all on Pirelli tires): 1. Kenan SOFUOGLU, Turkey (Kawasaki ZX-6R), 2:03.217 2. Jules CLUZEL, France (Honda CBR600RR), 2:03.219 3. Fabien FORET, France (Kawasaki ZX-6R), 2:03.297 4. Broc PARKES, Australia (Honda CBR600RR), 2:03.379 5. Sam LOWES, UK (Honda CBR600RR), 2:03.481 6. Vittorio IANNUZZO, Italy (Triumph Daytona 675R), 2:04.005 7. Ronan QUARMBY, South Africa (Honda CBR600RR), 2:04.014 8. Alex BALDOLINI, Italy (Triumph Daytona 675R), 2:04.043 9. Sheridan MORAIS, South Africa (Kawasaki ZX-6R), 2:04.094 10. Stefano CRUCIANI, Italy (Kawasaki ZX-6R), 2:04.156 15. Josh DAY, USA (Kawasaki ZX-6R), 2:04.649 More, from a press release issued by Bogdanka PTR Honda: BOGDANKA PTR HONDA’s Sam Lowes will start tomorrow’s round eight of the World Supersport Championship at Brno in the Czech Republic from the second row after posting the fifth fastest time in Saturday’s dry but rain hit second qualifying. Close second in the overall standings, the Briton will be aiming for another podium finish. Mathew Scholtz on the other Bogdanka PTR Honda will be starting from 19th on the grid and targeting a point scoring result on one of the few circuits on the World Supersport calendar that the series rookie knows well. Pawel Szkopek on the Bogdanka Honda PTR will be starting his and Bogdanka’s home race from 20th on the grid and looking to score his best World Superpsort result of the season when the lights go off at 13:30 CET on Sunday. Sam Lowes: “We had some rain during the session so I was a bit cautious and in the end I’m quite happy with fifth position and confident ahead of the race. We had some chatter late in the session but that shouldn’t be a problem with race distance tyres. It’s looking good.” Mathew Scholtz: “The qualifying wasn’t too good. We’ve tried to change a few things, but they didn’t seem to work. In the end we’re down in 19th position but I’m pretty happy with my race pace so I’m looking forward to tomorrow. I just need to get a good start and move forward from there.” Pawel Szkopek: “As I went out on the soft tyre, it started raining so we got a bit unlucky there. We had another go and I improved my time by almost half a second. I had to pass a slower rider in the end and I’m sure I’d be a bit further up otherwise but it’s not a problem. We have a good setup and a good pace so I’m looking for a good home race for myself and all of the Polish Bogdanka fans.” Simon Buckmaster, Bogdanka PTR Honda Team Manager: “Sam suffered a slow speed crash at the end of qualifying and will start fifth. He has good race pace and he is still on course for fighting for the podium. Mathew improved his lap times but they are so tight he ended up 19th. We will be looking for a points finish in the race.” Final qualifying: 1. Kenan Sofuoglu (Kawasaki Lorenzini) Kawasaki ZX-6R 2’03.217 2. Jules Cluzel (PTR Honda) Honda CBR600RR 2’03.219 3. Fabien Foret (Kawasaki Intermoto Step) Kawasaki ZX-6R 2’03.297 4. Broc Parkes (Ten Kate Racing Products) Honda CBR600RR 2’03.379 5. Sam Lowes (Bogdanka PTR Honda) Honda CBR600RR 2’03.481 6. Vittorio Iannuzzo (Power Team by Suriano) Triumph Daytona 675 2’04.005 7. Ronan Quarmby (PTR Honda) Honda CBR600RR 2’04.014 8. Alex Baldolini (Power Team by Suriano) Triumph Daytona 675 2’04.043 9. Sheridan Morais (Kawasaki Lorenzini) Kawasaki ZX-6R 2’04.094 10. Stefano Cruciani (Puccetti Racing Kawasaki Itali) Kawasaki ZX-6R 2’04.156 19. Mathew Scholtz (Bogdanka PTR Honda) Honda CBR600RR 2’04.987 20. Pawel Szkopek (Bogdanka Honda PTR) Honda CBR600RR 2’05.116 More, from a press release issued by PTR Honda: PTR HONDA’S Jules Cluzel will start tomorrow’s eighth round of the World Supersport Championship at Brno in the Czech Republic from second place after finishing a scant 0.002secs behind pole position in final qualifying. His teammate Ronan Quarmby improved his lap time but slipped to seventh on the grid – still an excellent starting position for the vibrant South African. Martin Jessopp on the Riders PTR Honda will start 31st despite improving his time. He is battling to get to grips with the nature of the Brno circuit. The race starts at 1330 CET tomorrow, July 22nd. Jules: “It is OK, we improved from yesterday which is the main thing. Also this year no one has won from pole position, so I am happy in second. I feel good on my PTR Honda and this morning we did a lot of laps with my tyre – it was a useful session. We will try for the podium tomorrow; we will do our best.” Ronan: “That was one of my best qualifying sessions, it was a good day. We got a set up in practice and I did full race distance tests as well. It was spitting with rain mid session and after that I tried very hard and got a good lap time. Everything’s looking good for the race and definitely a top five is possible.” Martin: “I am really struggling with the track and can’t ride it the way I should. Here you must really commit to corners while I am braking between them. When I try to run the speed through the corner I run off line. I need to find something so I can ride it like a 600 and not my normal Superbike style.” Simon Buckmaster, PTR Honda Team Manager: “It’s another great job by Jules and Ronan. Jules is not bothered as no one has won from pole this year and his pace is good. He will be in there fighting for the podium. Ronan has been consistently fast all weekend and times are tight, he will be challenging for a good top position. Martin has improved but he is struggling and after being knocked by Fabien Foret yesterday he has lost momentum. We will do everything we can to help him improve.” Final Qualifying 1. Kenan Sofuoglu TUR Kawasaki Lorenzini ZX-6R 2m 3.217s 2. Jules Cluzel FRA PTR Honda CBR600RR 2m 3.219s 3. Fabien Foret FRA Kawasaki Intermoto Step ZX-6R 2m 3.297s 4. Broc Parkes AUS Ten Kate Racing Products CBR600RR 2m 3.379s 5. Sam Lowes GBR Bogdanka PTR Honda CBR600RR 2m 3.481s 6. Vittorio Iannuzzo ITA Power Team by Suriano Daytona 675 2m 4.005s 7. Ronan Quarmby RSA PTR Honda CBR600RR 2m 4.014s 8. Alex Baldolini ITA Power Team by Suriano Daytona 675 2m 4.043s 9. Sheridan Morais RSA Kawasaki Lorenzini ZX-6R 2m 4.094s 10. Stefano Cruciani ITA Puccetti Racing Kawasaki Itali ZX-6R 2m 4.156s 19. Mathew Scholtz RSA Bogdanka PTR Honda CBR600RR 2m 4.987s 31. Martin Jessopp GBR Riders PTR Honda CBR600RR 2m 6.927s More, from a press release issued by Kawasaki: Sofuoglu On Pole After Close Qualifying Session WSS, Brno, Czech Republic, 21 July 2012 Kenan Sofuoglu (Kawasaki Lorenzini) set pole at Brno after a hard fought contest that saw Fabien Foret (Kawasaki Intermoto Step) third fastest, and only 0.162 seconds separate all the top four riders. Sofuoglu had to battle hard for his first pole position of 2012, despite not intending to sacrifice race set-up for a single fast lap time as usual. Such was the nature of the contest for a front row start, however, that he ended up only 0.002 seconds from second place man Jules Cluzel, and only 0.080 seconds ahead of Foret. This was Kenan’s 13th career pole position, his first for Kawasaki since joining the Lorenzini team at the start of this season. Sheridan Morais (Kawasaki Lorenzini) was ninth in qualifying after working hard with his team in practice, overcoming some issues on soft race tyres to finish his main pre-race preparations confident that they have found a good race set-up. French youngster Romain Lanusse (Kawasaki Intermoto Step) went 13th on the grid, while American rider Joshua Day (Team Go Eleven Kawasaki) was 15th. New Kawasaki runner in the championship, Florian Marino (MSD R-N racing Team India) was 23rd in his team’s first experience of WSS racing. Kenan Sofuoglu: “Today was not too bad and normally I do not fight for pole position, I can accept it if I am on the front row. But I think the bike was very good and the set-up was good and I tried to make a strong lap time, which brought me pole. The most important thing is that I am ready for the race, I have good race pace and hopefully I can fight for the win on raceday. I am very sorry about what happened in Aragon but I do not think I put anyone in a dangerous position. When I moved my head to signal Fabien I think it looks like a very aggressive manoeuvre when you see it on TV. I do not have any problem with Fabien and I shook hands with him after the race. Of course I am sorry that it happened. I want to put this all behind me this weekend to focus on a good result, try to win the race and get some points back.” Sheridan Morais: “I am only ninth and I am not happy about that but considering the weekend we have had up to now it is OK. I would obviously have wanted to start off the front two rows but the times are so close it is not bad. Kenan has been able to use the soft tyre but I am not able to use the soft tyre because I am getting too much chatter. I crashed out early on in qualifying yesterday and missed a lot of time there and the guys had to work through the night to rebuild the bike. Our race set up is good because I can only ride on the hard tyre and I was able to ride on that towards the end of the session. So it is nice to find a good race set-up but it will not be that easy starting from the third row. We have a race set-up so now I just look forward to the race.” More, from a press release issued by Honda: WSS > Latest News 22nd July 2012 Czech Republic Latest WSS News: Round 8 – Qualifying – Brno – 21/07/2012 Czech Republic Date : 21/07/2012 Czech front row for Parkes Broc Parkes will start tomorrow’s eighth round World Supersport championship race from the front row of the grid after setting the fourth fastest time in this afternoon’s second qualifying session at the Automotodromo Brno in the Czech Republic. Pole position was take by Turkish rider Kenan Sofuoglu with Parkes’s fellow Honda rider, Jules Cluzel, second and Fabien Foret third. Parkes had set the pace in yesterday’s qualifying and looked to have secured pole position today before spots of rain began to fall on the 5.403km Brno circuit. However, the 30-year-old Australian is happy with his pace and confident for tomorrow’s 18-lap race. Broc Parkes P4, 2m03.379s It was a little bit frustrating because we had some good pace with the soft tyre. We put one in but it was just like a warm-up tyre because it was spitting rain a little bit. When the rain stopped, I went out and checked the track and came in for a fresh tyre exactly the same, with no changes to the bike but we got really bad chatter with it. I couldn’t even do a lap with it, it was that bad. But the front row is good, and we have quite a good race pace. We mostly worked on that set-up today and found our race tyre, so it should be alright for tomorrow. Pieter Breddels technical co-ordinator We were very close to catching the pole position today but unfortunately the last tyre gave us some chatter and we couldn’t push. At the same time, our competitors pushed past us by a tenth or so, but Broc is still on the front row. He needs a good start and then I think he can race at least for the podium. Pole position : 2m03.217s (157.858Km/h) Kenan Sofuoglu, Kawasaki Circuit record lap : 2m02.708s (156.780Km/h) Cal Crutchlow, Yamaha, 2009 Circuit Best Lap : 2m02.060s (159.350Km/h) Cal Crutchlow, Yamaha, 2009