2007 FIM Supersport World Championship Magny Cours, France October 6, 2007 Final Qualifying Results: 1. Kenan SOFUOGLU (Honda CBR600RR), 1:42.057 2. Broc PARKES (Yamaha YZF-R6), 1:42.213 3. Sebastien CHARPENTIER (Honda CBR600RR), 1:42.219 4. Tommy HILL (Yamaha YZF-R6), 1:42.575 5. Fabien FORET (Kawasaki ZX-6R), 1:42.604 6. Gianluca VIZZIELLO (Yamaha YZF-R6), 1:42.795 7. Massimo ROCCOLI (Yamaha YZF-R6), 1:42.829 8. David CHECA (Yamaha YZF-R6), 1:42.984 9. Craig JONES (Honda CBR600RR), 1:42.992 10. Josh BROOKES (Honda CBR600RR), 1:43.112 11. Gregory LEBLANC (Honda CBR600RR), 1:43.165 12. Katsuaki FUJIWARA (Honda CBR600RR), 1:43.198 13. Vesa KALLIO (Suzuki GSX-R600), 1:43.238 14. Barry VENEMAN (Suzuki GSX-R600), 1:43.274 15. Sebastien GIMBERT (Yamaha YZF-R6), 1:43.332 16. Arne TODE (Honda CBR600RR), 1:43.341 17. Joan LASCORZ (Honda CBR600RR), 1:43.371 18. David SALOM (Yamaha YZF-R6), 1:43.567 19. Simone SANNA (Honda CBR600RR), 1:43.703 20. Pere RIBA (Kawasaki ZX-6R), 1:43.757 More, from a press release issued by HANNspree Ten Kate Honda: Sofuoglu secures full set of front rows HANNspree Ten Kate Honda’s Kenan Sofuoglu will start the final race of the 2007 World Supersport Championship at Magny-Cours from pole position. The feat will see him complete the season having started from the front row at all 13 rounds. Sébastien Charpentier qualified as the third fastest rider to join his team-mate on the top line of the grid for the eighth time this year. Heavy fog hanging over the 4.411km French circuit delayed this morning’s free practice. However, Sofuoglu and Charpentier ventured out onto the track and performed well under the difficult conditions, finishing in the two top spots on the timesheet. The weather cleared in time for the afternoon qualifying, which turned out to be one of the most impressive sessions of the season so far. It began with Sofuoglu setting the fastest lap early on, then beating the existing Magny-Cours best lap with a time of 1’42.419. It didn’t take long for Charpentier to better this as he set out on a fast lap that shaved two tenths of a second off his team-mate’s time. Not one to accept defeat, Sofuoglu headed back out and secured a blistering lap of 1’42.057. Charpentier was about to retaliate when an unfortunate mistake caused him to crash out of the session. The Frenchman was forced to retire and settled into third place while Sofuoglu claimed his fifth pole position of the 2007 season. Ronald ten Kate, Team Manager: “The last qualifying session of the season was actually one of the best. Everybody was pushing hard but Kenan came out on top, which is nice to see before he leaves the Supersport class. It was a pity that Sébastien crashed out because we know what he has in him when it comes to securing pole positions. “Kenan’s result also marks the first ever pole position in motorcycle racing for a semi-active rear shock suspension system. We have been testing this system over the last few rounds, but this was the first time we used it in an official qualifying session. We developed the system together with WP Suspension and we used it here for the first time outright in all the qualifying sessions. It is great to see such a promising result with it.” Kenan Sofuoglu: “I am really happy with today. It is important for me to be in the front row and I have achieved that at every round this season so I’m pleased to make it a full 13 front rows. To get pole here is even better because this was the last Supersport qualifying for me and I wanted to go out in top. I can’t say that I have achieved all my ambitions this weekend though because it is really all about tomorrow. I am really looking forward to the race. I have got a good race set-up and I am ready to aim for the podium.” Sébastien Charpentier: “I touched a curb in the last ten minutes there so I couldn’t try and beat the best lap again. I have no injuries and I hope the bike is ok because I have a really good set-up. I am ready for the race – I’ve been out and done many laps and I am feeling confident. Thanks again to the mechanics for all their hard work.” More, from a press release issued by Yamaha Racing: Yamaha Claims Two Front Row Seats for Season Finale Broc Parkes and Tommy Hill put in confident performances today to take second and fourth places respectively on the grid with another three Yamaha riders in the top eight for tomorrow’s 13th and final Supersport race of the season. Fog delayed the start of the morning’s activity with the Superstock 1000 practice being rescheduled to later in the day. This meant that the Supersport riders were the first on track with the fog still lingering but both Parkes and Hill went well despite this and ended the morning practice in third and sixth respectively. The fog had lifted for the afternoon’s qualifying session and Parkes was the first rider of the session to improve his time from yesterday. Hill was the second rider to improve and moved up to fourth. Parkes went on to top the board after five laps but then a session-long battle ensued between Parkes, Charpentier and Sofuoglu for the top spot. Parkes was looking likely to take the honours in the final few minutes when he ran up against traffic on the last corner of his flying lap, causing him to miss pole by 0.2 seconds. Hill made a strong show this afternoon, taking over a second off his time to move up from his provisional ninth qualifying place to take fourth – his first front row qualifying place since working with the team. The other Yamaha riders in the top eight tomorrow are: Gianluca Vizziello in sixth; Massimo Roccoli, who took seventh; and David Checa who took eighth. Both Checa and his team mate, Gimbert, crashed during the session but both were unhurt, with Gimbert re-joining the session later on. Tomorrow’s weather forecast is for similar conditions to today with fog in the morning and comparable temperatures, which will make for an interesting round up to the 2007 World Supersport Championship. Broc Parkes (2nd – 1’42.213 – Yamaha World Supersport Team) “I’m a bit upset; I knew I had a good pace on my last flying lap right at the end and I’m confident I could’ve got pole if I hadn’t come up against those back markers right at the end. But, there are no points for pole; it’s tomorrow that counts. The bike’s working really well; we’ve found the tyre for the race and everything is decided on for tomorrow. All the times are close so it’s going to be a good battle. I’m looking forward to tomorrow!” Tommy Hill (4th – 1’42.575 – Yamaha World Supersport Team) “I’m happy with how today’s gone. It’s been good for the team as well as me. Everyone’s worked hard this weekend to help me; it’s been hard swapping between the British Superbike R1 and World Supersport R6 because you have to ride them so differently. I still forget sometimes which riding style I’m meant to be using. I knew I could go quicker this afternoon; it was just about relaxing as much as anything. I’m not thinking about where I want to finish tomorrow; I just want to go out there, get a good start and go for it. My times have been consistent and I know I can run with the top riders.” Massimo Roccoli (7th – 1’42.829 – Yamaha Team Italia) “I had two soft rear tyre options to try during today. I tried one in the second qualifying session but it didn’t work too well. I’ll try the second option tomorrow morning and then make a decision as to which one to use for the race. Tomorrow I’m aiming for a top five finish in order to finish in the top five of the championship standings.”