HONDA RACING INFORMATION World Supersport and Superbike Championships 2007 Round 4, Valencia Spain Spanish Race Preview 13 April – 15 April 2007 World Supersport Round 4 of 13 SOFUOGLU TAKES STRONG CHAMPIONSHIP LEAD TO VALENCIA The start of the 2007 season could hardly have been better for Kenan Sofuoglu (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda CBR600RR) with two wins and one second place to his credit. His fabulous early run of form on the new-for-2007 CBR600RR has propelled him to a 27-point advantage at the top of the championship table, with two other Honda riders, Katsuaki Fujiwara (Althea Honda Team CBR600RR) and Robbin Harms (Stiggy Motorsports Honda CBR600RRR) in second and third places respectively. After overcoming serious pelvic and collarbone injuries in the 2006 season, to score a historic second straight championship in Supersport, Sebastien Charpentier (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda CBR600RR) has seen his fortunes wane in the early part of the 2007 season. A recent crash in the first practice session at round three in England caused him to re-fracture his pelvis, albeit in a much less serious way than in 2006. He is working flat out to be fit for the Valencia round, trying to make it three wins in a row at the 4.005km Circuito Ricardo Tormo. ‘Seb’ was not the only top rider to be injured at Donington, and at least two other regular championship contenders are also fighting to be fit. Lorenzo Alfonsi (Althea Honda Team CBR600RR) had enjoyed a good start to his first Honda season in World Supersport, prior to being taken out by another rider in the Donington race, but the former European Superstock champion is determined to get back into the points at a track he has scored four podium finishes at during his Superstock years. Sofuoglu has been thriving in the role of championship leader, having won the first round at Qatar and the most recent one at Donington. Sofuoglu and his team-mate Charpentier were not present at the official Valencia tests in March, but after a strong showing earlier in the winter months, he is understandably keen to get back to Valencia. “I was really happy with the win at Donington and it has given me a good lead in the standings,” said the 23-year-old Turkish rider. “We have tested in Valencia and I recorded some good lap times there so it’s a track I feel quite comfortable riding. Of course, I am hoping for a podium finish and think I have a good chance of achieving that. I am looking forward to racing with my team-mate again and I wish him and the other injured riders all the best in their recoveries.” Charpentier is determined to get his championship back on track at Valencia, despite his recent injury. “Obviously I was very disappointed not to be able to race at Donington, but these things happen and you have to concentrate on the future,” said Charpentier, who displayed astonishing mental and physical toughness to come back from injury to win the series in 2006. “I’ve been working really hard with my medical team in France to recover in time for the next race. My injuries are healing well and I am looking forward to getting back on the bike and racing again in Valencia.” Fujiwara has been an omnipresent force at the front again this year, and feels that Valencia will be one of his best circuits. “I am really ready for Valencia because we had a good test there in March,” said Fujiwara. “We made good changes to the bike set-up during the Donington weekend, having never tested there, but we already have good information about our new bike at Valencia. It is good to be going there second in the championship so I will try my best to make as many points as possible.” Alfonsi’s early 2007 form and excellent sixth place qualifying result at Donington are not the only elements that contribute to his positive Valencia race outlook. “We made a lot of kilometres in testing at Valencia in the most recent official sessions and the results were quite good, so I want to continue my season in a strong way,” said Lorenzo. “I think it helps me that the team knows the bike very well and I think we found the tyre for the Valencia track back in March. We know we should have a good solution for the set-up and I feel pretty good about racing at Valencia.”