FIM Supersport World Championship Miller Motorsports Park Tooele, Utah May 31, 2010 Race Results (all on Pirelli tires): 1. Kenan SOUFUOGLU, Turkey (Honda CBR600RR), 18 laps 2. Eugene LAVERTY, Great Britain (Honda CBR600RR), -1.028 seconds 3. Joan LASCORZ, Spain (Kawasaki ZX-6R), -1.673 4. Chaz DAVIES, Great Britain (Triumph Daytona 675), -13.209 5. Michele PIRRO, Italy (Honda CBR600RR), -14.209 6. Katsuaki FUJIWARA, Japan (Kawasaki ZX-6R), -14.386 7. David SALOM, Spain (Triumph Daytona 675), -14.603 8. Robbin HARMS, Denmark (Honda CBR600RR), -20.582 9. Gino REA, Great Britain (Honda CBR600RR), -22.895 10. Fabien FORET, France (Kawasaki ZX-6R), -27.100 11. Jason DISALVO, USA (Triumph Daytona 675), -27.211 12. Matthieu LAGRIVE, France (Triumph Daytona 675), -28.293 13. Massimo ROCCOLI, Italy (Honda CBR600RR), -28.393 14. Miguel PRAIA, Portugal (Honda CBR600RR), -41.986 15. Alexander LUNDH, Sweden (Honda CBR600RR), -48.402 16. Tyler ODOM, USA (Honda CBR600RR), -48.689 17. Bastien CHESAUX, Switzerland (Honda CBR600RR), -72.283 18. Jason FARRELL, USA (Kawasaki ZX-6R), -116.115 19. Melissa PARIS, USA (Yamaha YZF-R6), -12 laps, DNF, crash World Championship Point Standings (after 7 of 13 races): 1. Sofuoglu, 142 points 2. Laverty, 136 3. Lascorz, 128 4. Davies, 84 5. TIE, Pirro/Salom, 58 7. Rea, 54 8. Harms, 51 9. Fujiwara, 48 10. Lagrive, 44 11. Foret, 34 12. Roccolo, 32 13. Praia, 31 14. Lundh, 23 15. DiSalvo, 21 16. Chesaux, 7 17. TIE, Lance Isaacs/Danilo Dell’Omo, 5 19. Gianluca Vizziello, 4 20. TIE, Sebastien Charpentier/Andrea Boscoscuro/Paola Cazzola, 3 More, from a press release issued by Parkalgar Honda: Laverty keeps up pressure in title race PARKALGAR HONDA’S Eugene Laverty took second place at today’s seventh round of the World Supersport Championship at Miller Motorsports Park in the USA after a tense race-long battle with his two title rivals. Miguel Praia started and finished in 14th place to score valuable points and will be looking to improve at the next round at Misano in Italy on June 27th. To follow all the team news visit www.parkalgar-honda.com. Eugene: “There is so much grip around Miller Motorsports Park that the tyre spun on the rim and that happened early in the race, causing me to suffer major vibrations through the front end. It was not comfortable and this is a problem we have had before and we must look for solutions as it cost me the chance to compete with Kenan for the race win. I always knew my Parkalgar Honda would be faster in the second half of the race but towards the end I really had to push to keep Lascorz behind me. I am pretty content with second but would have been disappointed with third – we are fighting for the title and I cannot afford to lose points like that. It’s been solid points today and six behind the title lead is very little. I am looking forward to a couple of weekends off, getting into my training and I’m also going to see Snow Patrol before getting back to business at Misano.” Miguel: “The race didn’t go exactly to plan. My pace was OK and as expected but I went into the first corner hard trying to overtake a couple of riders and was blocked, causing me to lose around one-second on the opening lap. That was enough to lose the tow on the group in front. My Parkalgar Honda was good and I was happy with it. Now we have time before the next race to recover, rest and also focus on my fitness because when you are racing and travelling as much as we do it is hard to train properly.” Simon Buckmaster, Parkalgar Honda Team Manager: “Eugene got a good start but we always knew it would be a tough fight and congratulations to Kenan on winning; we can’t win them all. Overall not a bad race as we have pulled some further points on Lascorz and are only six points behind the lead. Eugene is keeping the pressure on. There will be three riders in this title fight right until the end. We go to Misano next which is a good track for us and we will be giving our all to win there for sure. Today Miguel was not fast enough in the first half of the race. Towards the end he got faster but had to settle for the points. Knowing his potential this is a disappointing race for him but we will all pull together to get him up the results sheet at the next round.” More, from a press release issued by Hannspree Ten Kate Honda: Kenan Sofuoglu won today’s seventh round World Supersport championship race at Miller Motorsports Park in the USA in dominant style, extending his championship lead over fellow Honda rider Eugene Laverty, who finished second. It was Laverty who grabbed the holeshot on the opening of 18 laps, but by lap four Sofuoglu had overcome a one second deficit to take the lead. In the process, the Turkish ace broke the lap record for a Supersport machine around the 4.907km Miller circuit. Sofuoglu quickly opened up a two second gap, breaking the lap record twice more on his way to his second successive win at the American circuit and his second victory of the year, maintaining his 100% podium record for the 2010 season. Joan Lascorz took third place to maintain his championship challenge, while Sofuoglu’s Hannspree Ten Kate Honda team-mate, Michele Pirro, enjoyed a race-long dice with Chaz Davies to take fifth place. Kenan Sofuoglu 1st It has been a difficult weekend and we certainly had some problems to overcome on Friday. The team worked so hard to fix the problems that I was able to start from pole position, which I had not expected. My focus has been on winning all weekend and after Eugene got away at the start I was able to catch and pass him. After that I just worked hard to control the race and keep the gap between me and him. I am very happy for this win and I will be working hard with the team for another in Misano. Michele Pirro 5th I had some electrical problems with my number one bike before the race so, to be safe, I took out my spare CBR600RR for the race. Although the set up was exactly the same, maybe the engine in the spare was not quite so strong so I found it difficult to pass Davies. I was able to make some consistent laps and I guess I can be happy with the result. Now we have a test at Assen, which will be good to find a solution to the problems we had here, and then I will look forward to the next race at Misano. Ronald ten Kate team-manager We’re obviously delighted with Kenan’s race win. It’s good for everyone’s morale to be winning again, especially now we are heading into the part of the season for which we have some suspension data from last year. More personally, however, I want to dedicate this victory to my father, who is not at all well. He has been the greatest inspiration to me throughout my life and still is today. He sent me off last week with his best wishes to seek another victory here in America, so this one is for him. More, from a press release issued by Kawasaki: Podium for Lascorz as Fujiwara battles to Sixth Front row starters Joan Lascorz and Katsuaki Fujiwara each made strong points scores at Miller in the USA, after 18-laps of high-speed action in the Memorial Day holiday Monday race. The 4.907km Miller Motorsport Park suited both riders and machinery better than the previous round at Kyalami and each rider saw that in their final results, with Joan third in the race and Katsuaki sixth. Joan was not able to stay with the front running pace of eventual winner Kenan Sofuoglu and second place rider Eugene Laverty but his late pace made him a threat to Laverty right until the flag. Joan finished only 1.673 seconds from the lead. Joan has now scored six podium finishes from seven races, and is third on points, 14 from the lead. Katsuaki was happy to be able to battle for a top four finish after qualifying fourth on the grid, but he had to settle for sixth and ten valuable championship points. ‘Kats’ has moved up one ranking place to ninth overall after seven rounds of a 13 round season. He he is now only ten points from a top five placing. Joan Lascorz: “The start was difficult for me, with a full fuel tank. When the fuel load reduced in the middle of the race the bike was simply easier to ride. Another podium today and we are in not such a bad place in the championship. Sofuoglu and Laverty were also very fast today.” Katsuaki Fujiwara: “We worked well, very well, and I had good self-control in the race. I had a good fight with Davies and Pirro and I passed Pirro on the last lap, only for him to get by me again at the flag. I am quite happy about today’s race, there was lots of tough fighting. My bike was working consistently and well. My target now is to finish the championship fourth or fifth.”