FIM Supersport World Championship
Donington Park, England
May 28, 2017
Restarted Race Results (all on Pirelli tires):
1. Kenan SOFUOGLU, Turkey (Kawasaki ZX-6R), 13 laps, Total Race Time 19:45.121, Best Lap Time 1:30.619
2. Lucas MAHIAS, France (Yamaha YZF-R6), -2.450 seconds, 1:30.624
3. Jules CLUZEL, France (Honda CBR600RR), -2.576, 1:30.533
4. Luke STAPLEFORD, UK (Triumph Daytona 675), -5.954, 1:30.994
5. Jack KENNEDY, Ireland (Triumph Daytona 675), -6.182, 1:30.855
6. Sheridan MORAIS, South Africa (Yamaha YZF-R6), -17.051, 1:31.587
7. Anthony WEST, Australia (Yamaha YZF-R6), -17.248, 1:31.294
8. Kyle SMITH, UK (Honda CBR600RR), -17.440, 1:31.599
9. Hikari OKUBO, Japan (Honda CBR600RR), -19.238, 1:31.634
10. Joe FRANCIS, UK (Yamaha YZF-R6), -20.748, 1:31.748
32. PJ JACOBSEN, USA (MV Agusta F3 675), Did Not Make Restart, Mechanical
Supersport World Championship Point Standings (after 6 of 12 races):
1. Mahias, 105 points
2. Sofuoglu, 75
3. Morais, 68
4. TIE, Cluzel/Jacobsen, 55
6. Roberto Rolfo, 43
7. Ryde, 41
8. Federico Caracasulo, 35
9. West, 32
10. Stapleford, 30
More, from a press release issued by Kawasaki:
Third Race Win For Sofuoglu in WorldSSP
The incredible recent form of Kenan Sofuoglu (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) continued into raceday at Donington Park, with the five time world champion becoming a three time race winner this year. Kyle Ryde, Kenan’s young British team-mate, scored 11th place.
Sofuoglu made a great start to the first attempted running of the WorldSSP race at Donington, and had to do it all again in a 13-lap restart. His early pace took him clear of his rivals and he won by a clear 2.450 seconds to earn full points in every race he has finished in 2017.
Kyle Ryde was held back by his qualifying position of 14th but moved into 11th place at the end, gaining valuable championship points. He is still seventh in the championship, now with 41 points.
Today’s race gave Kenan his 41st career victory and his third race win at Donington in succession for Kawasaki.
Kenan’s new total of 75 championship points sees him move into second place in the standings, 30 points behind Lucas Mahias.
After the completion of the Donington WorldSSP weekend the championship now heads back to Italy, for the seventh round of the 12 round season, at the Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli. Raceday will be 18th June.
Kenan Sofuoglu, stated: “To be very honest I am still not thinking about the championship but my goal is to keep winning races. I missed the first three rounds of the year. Then I thought I could not be champion but I knew I would be happy to win races. I have zero stress for the races and finally I was fast again today. On Friday and Saturday I could not make the pace I wanted but today it was not difficult. It was nice to know that if I wanted to go faster there was a big potential. I made some changes in my riding style today and the lap time was immediately better.”
Kyle Ryde, stated: “Not our best day but I am happy that I made an improvement from yesterday. I think the main problem this weekend is that I was trying to make my bike feel like the bike I finished on the podium with here in the past. In the end we came to a medium setting today, so the set-up on the bike was not too bad. I need to copy Kenan’s style so I am sure in Misano there are no corners like Donington, and I hope I can be inside the top six again.”
Gino Rea (Team Kawasaki Go Eleven) was one place behind Ryde today, in 12th place, with Kazuki Watanabe (Team Kawasaki Go Eleven) another Kawasaki rider in the points, in 15th place.
Michael Canducci (3570 Puccetti Racing FMI Kawasaki) was 17th, Rob Hartog (Team Hartog Jenik Against Cancer Kawasaki) 19th and Zulfahmi Khairuddin (Orelac Racing VerdNatura Kawasaki) 20th. Nacho Calero (Orelac Racing VerdNatura Kawasaki) placed 22nd and Lachlan Epis (Response RE Racing Kawasaki) 23rd.
More, from a press release issued by Dorna:
WorldSSP: Unstoppable Sofuoglu registers third successive victory
World Champion wins again, as Mahias and Cluzel join him on the podium
Kenan Sofuoglu (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) made another big statement of intent in the 2017 WorldSSP championship fight on Sunday afternoon at the PATA UK Round, taking a third win in three races. He was joined on the podium at the Donington Park Circuit by standings leader Lucas Mahias (GRT Yamaha Official WorldSSP Team) and Jules Cluzel (CIA Landlord Insurance Honda).
Having missed the opening two rounds of the year due to a training injury, Sofuoglu has clawed his way back to second in the championship after six races courtesy of a 100% record in the last three rounds. In a restarted race, after a red-flag in the initial get away, pole man Sofuoglu notched up a dominant win in a shortened 13-lap contest, crossing the finish line 2.45s in front of closest challenger Mahias.
For Mahias it was his third consecutive second place finish behind the Turk and the result means he maintains the championship lead by 30 points, even if he can feel Sofuoglu on his shoulder as the World Champion moves up the general standings.
A good performance by Cluzel on the Honda CBR600RR saw him bring it home in third, for his second podium of the season. The Frenchman pushed his compatriot Mahias hard for second place but just could not make a move stick over the final corners.
The top five also featured Luke Stapleford in fourth place as the top British finisher and his fellow Profile Racing rider – Irishman Jack Kennedy – in fifth.
The top ten was competed by Sheridan Morais (Kallio Racing), Anthony West (EAB West Racing), Kyle Smith (GEMAR Team Lorini), Hikari Okubo (CIA Landlord Insurance Honda) and Joe Francis (HALSALL Racing Team). Meanwhile in 11th and 12th there were point-scoring finishes for Kyle Ryde (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) and Gino Rea (Team Kawasaki Go Eleven) to make it five Britons in the top 12.
A crash at turn 12 for Cardelus Garcia (Race Department ATK#25) saw the initial race start red-flagged as the marshals cleaned the track – following the incident for the MV Agusta F3 675-equipped rider.
Federico Caricasulo (GRT Yamaha Official WorldSSP Team) crashed at turn 12 soon after the race was restarted and his Italian compatriot Christian Gamarino (BARDAHL EVAN BROS. Honda Racing) also crashed out in the final stages of the race. An issue for PJ Jacobsen (MV Agusta Reparto Corse) meant he did not participate in the restart.
The WorldSSP riders will be back in action over the 16th-18th June weekend at the Pirelli Riviera Di Rimini Round.
P1 – Kenan Sofuoglu (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing)
“I am not thinking about the championship, I am very much interested to keep winning. I am very happy, all weekend I was not fast enough but finally I told myself I will push like Superpole. I was doing a good lap time and I am very happy with the pace, it’s nice to know I am fast enough but I know I have a lot more to do.”
More, from a press release issued by Halsall Racing Team:
TOP 10 FOR FRANCIS AS HALSALL TAKES ON WORLD’S BEST
JOE Francis crossed the line 10th as the Movuno.com Halsall Racing team made its FIM Supersport World Championship debut at Donington Park.
The 19-year-old from Chester ran in sixth spot for much of the shortened 13-lap race at the Leicestershire track, only dropping down the order in the closing laps as his tyres started to lose grip.
Team owner Martin Halsall and the squad had gained a wildcard entry to the only British round on the calendar, and Francis arrived at the circuit determined to use the weekend for track time and to see how he fared against the world’s best.
After ending Friday’s first free practice session in fifth position, things took a bad turn in the second when he crashed, leaving the team with a repair job and missing most of the session.
But the teenager was back on form for Saturday’s qualifying, battling through SP1 and into SP2, eventually qualifying seventh on the grid, beating a number of high profile riders and becoming the highest qualifying wildcard by a country mile.
However, the race didn’t get off to the start he wanted as he dropped right back to 15th after making the wrong tyre choice. Yet his day was saved when another rider dumped oil on the track on the fourth lap, and the race was stopped to allow the track to be cleared up.
The race was replaced with a shortened 13-lap scrap, and this time the youngster was armed with a new tyre which worked much better. He managed to move up to sixth in the opening lap, holding the position for the majority of the race, only dropping off in the closing laps as his tyres began to go off.
He eventually crossed the line in tenth position, much to his delight. “Initially we had been recommended the hard tyre and everyone else ran the soft, and that’s what went wrong in the early stages of the race before it was flagged,” he said. “I was happy the race was stopped when it was as it meant I was able to change it to the soft like everyone else.
“The difference was amazing, it meant I was able to run comfortably in sixth for most of the race, and I only dropped a few places at the end because the tyre went off a bit.
“I’m really happy with the result, especially considering we missed most of FP2 and had to just make the most of what we had on track yesterday. I came here looking to make it into SP2 and to get a top 10 and we achieved both. It’s been an awesome weekend, and I want to thank Martin and the team for giving me the opportunity and for giving me a great bike.”
Martin Halsall added: “What a fantastic weekend we’ve had, I’m really happy. Joe has been running well since the moment we arrived, and it was unlucky that he crashed on Friday and lost all that track time.
“But he did so well to qualify where he did, and he proved what a talented rider he is in the race. To run with the best in the world and finish in the top 10 is amazing, and I’m sure had his tyre not gone off he could’ve maybe held onto sixth.
“The team has had a brilliant weekend and it’s been a great experience for everyone. We can take what we’ve learnt here and apply it to our own championship, and hopefully our season will really pick up from here.”
The Movuno.com Halsall Racing team will be back in action at the official BSB test at Snetterton on June 7, before heading to Knockhill in Scotland for the fourth round over the weekend June 16-18.
More, from a press release issued by CIA Landlord Insurance Honda:
Cluzel clinches second podium of the season
CIA Landlord Insurance Honda’s Jules Cluzel scored his second podium of 2017 in the World Supersport race at Donington Park today taking him to fourth in the Championship standings.
The initial race was red-flagged with Jules in 2nd place behind Kenan Sofuoglu after Cardelus Garcia crashed at turn 12. In the shortened to 13 lap re-started race, Jules pushed Mahias hard for second place but just couldn’t make a move stick in the final few corners. Jules said: “I am happy with the race. I was expecting to struggle a little more, we never showed this pace in the weekend. I was disappointed with the red flag because the first race was looking better, I made a better start. I was close to Kenan and I was able to follow him and escape a bit more. The second start was not so good but I came back to catch Mahias and try to catch Kenan. I just tried everything on the last lap but it didn’t work. In general I am happy we did a good job, the team did a good job, we had no problems and we did our best for the race.”
Hikari Okubo didn’t get the best start in the re-start dropping down to 15th but he stuck at it and found the pace to pick his way back up the field for another top ten finish in 9th.
After a disappointing qualifying, Robin Mulhauser’s confidence was boosted in the race. He was lapping in the low 32s and finished in 18th position.
Hiromichi Kunikawa’s lap times continued to improve all weekend. He finished the race in 26th place and although his position was not as good as last time out at Imola when he was in the top twenty for the first time, this was the most positive weekend he has had with CIA Landlord Insurance Honda so far.
CIA Landlord Insurance Honda Team Manager, Simon Buckmaster said: “It’s been a good day for us back on the podium and up to fourth in the Championship which is a positive thing. It was a great race right down to the wire. We have had our misfortune earlier in the season so now we need to stick at it and keep pushing to challenge for the title.”
“Hikari rode a good, strong race to 9th place and 11th position in the Championship. He is closing the points gap in the standings and will soon be in the top ten.”
“Robin had the points position pace but not really early enough in the race. Of course, after a disappointing qualifying this is good for his confidence and we want to work with him to get him back into the points and the top ten which is where he should be.”
“Hiromichi continued to improve all weekend getting into the 33s in the race. He continues to grow in confidence in the World Supersport Championship and he works well with his crew for better results as the season unfolds.”