FIM Supersport World Championship
Imola, Italy
May 9, 2015
Qualifying Results (all using Pirelli tires):
1. Jules CLUZEL, France (MV Agusta F3 675), 1:50.856
2. Kenan SOFUOGLU, Turkey (Kawasaki ZX-6R), 1:50.893
3. Marco FACCANI, Italy (Kawasaki ZX-6R), 1:51.713
4. PJ JACOBSEN, USA (Kawasaki ZX-6R), 1:51.757
5. Lorenzo ZANETTI, Italy (MV Agusta F3 675), 1:51.809
6. Alex BALDOLINI, Italy (MV Agusta F3 675), 1:51.923
7. Gino REA, UK (Honda CBR600RR), 1:51.998
8. Rathaoark WILAIROT, Thailand (Honda CBR600RR), 1:52.067
9. Riccardo RUSSO, Italy (Honda CBR600RR), 1:52.158
10. Kyle SMITH, UK (Honda CBR600RR), 1:52.295
15. Martin CARDENAS, Colombia (Honda CBR600RR), 1:52.937
More, from a press release issued by Dorna WSBK Press Office:
Cluzel takes fourth Pole Position of the year
Sofuoglu and Faccani on front row, Jacobsen fourth on the grid.
Jules Cluzel (MV Agusta Reparto Corse) his fourth Pole Position of the 2015 World Supersport championship, finishing the 45-minute qualifying session only 0.037s ahead of current series leader Kenan Sofuoglu (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing), who claimed second place on the grid for tomorrow’s 17-lap encounter after heading most of the session. Marco Faccani (San Carlo Puccetti Racing) will join the duo on row one, the young Italian who won last year’s STK600 crown claiming a maiden WSS top-3 race start.
Despite a technical problem in the final 4 minutes American PJ Jacobsen (Kawasaki Ponyexpres Intermoto) will head row 2 while last year’s race winner Lorenzo Zanetti (MV Agusta Reparto Corse) is in contention and will start 5th alongside former podium finisher Alex Baldolini who is enjoying a strong start to 2015. The Italian completes row 2 with his privately entered Race Department ATK#25 MV Agusta.
Gino Rea (CIA Landlords Insurance Honda), Ratthapark Wilairot (CORE Motorsport Thailand), Riccardo Russo (CIA Landlords Insurance Honda) and Kyle Smith (Pata Honda World Supersport Team) complete the top ten.
More, from a press release issued by CIA Landlord Insurance Honda:
Gino heads up third row at Imola
CIA LANDLORDS INSURANCE HONDA’S Gino Rea will start the fifth round of the World Supersport Championship at Imola in Italy from the head of the third row in seventh place.
Gino said: “I am happy with the pace and progression since yesterday morning. On my last lap I was on for third or fourth but pushed too hard and messed up the last chicane. Hopefully we can show our pace in the race. I am happy with tyre choice and want to get away with the front group and battle for the podium.”
Riccardo Russo took nearly 1.5seconds off his lap time from yesterday to record his best qualifying of the year so far in ninth. He will be aiming for even better in the race.
Martin Cardenas will start from 15th, with Kieran Clarke in 21st. Both Martin and Kieran are visiting Imola for the first time.
There is a warm up session ahead of the race starting at 1140 local time tomorrow, Sunday, May 10th.
CIA Landlords Insurance Honda Team Manager Simon Buckmaster said: “Gino is right in the hunt for the podium. The team is working well.
“We finished the last race with a good base setting for Ricky. He has built on that and now achieved his best qualification of the season. He is looking strong for the race.
“Martin is struggling for mechanical grip but we will look at the data and try something in warm up to help with that. He should be challenging inside the top 10 in the.
“Kieran is still looking for his first point. We will sit down and consider changes for warm up to help him ahead of the race.”
More, from a press release issued by Pata Honda:
Top ten for Smith after Imola qualifying
Pata Honda rider Kyle Smith will start tomorrow’s fifth-round World Supersport championship race from the fourth row of the grid after setting the tenth-fastest time in this afternoon’s qualifying session at Imola in Italy.
Smith has been working hard with his team to improve the front-end grip on his Pata Honda CBR600RR race machine and they were able to help him improve his lap time by almost one second compared to yesterday’s free practice sessions at the 4.936km Imola circuit.
Although Smith has not yet been able to match the time of pole position man Jules Cluzel, he and his crew know that race day usually brings another level of performance from the 23-year-old British rider.
Kyle Smith – P10, 1m52.295s
It’s been a difficult weekend so far because we were way off the pace yesterday. We have worked hard on the bike set-up and not quite found the right way to go. Also, I’ve been struggling a bit with the track and probably pushing too hard because nothing has clicked properly yet. We went the opposite way for qualifying and it looked like a positive move because the lap time improved; but when I put the new tyre in I made a few mistakes and couldn’t make the most of it. I could put a few splits together but the lap didn’t quite come. I’m quite close to the times ahead of me though, and I’m usually a bit more relaxed on race day, so hopefully the pace will come a bit more easily tomorrow.
Pieter Breddels – technical co-ordinator
It was not an easy day yesterday and we kept changing the bike. In this afternoon’s qualifying session we found a better way and Kyle broke into the 52s so we were quite happy. But when we put in a set of new tyres, he couldn’t quite get a lap together and that left us with 10th position. We have another go in warm-up tomorrow to try to get a rhythm, with race pace looking better and close to last year’s times. Getting to the top three again will be difficult but nothing is impossible!
More, from a press release issued by Kawasaki:
Sofuoglu Second On The Grid With Faccani Alongside
Kenan Sofuoglu (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) took his Ninja ZX-6R to the second fastest time at Imola after the regulation single 45 minute qualifying session. Rookie full season WSS rider Marco Faccani (San Carlo Puccetti Racing Kawasaki) rode to third best time and joins Sofuoglu on the front row.
With Sofuoglu and Faccani on the first row of the grid the second row was headed by PJ Jacobsen (Kawasaki Intermoto Ponyexpres) making it three Kawasaki riders inside the front four places after qualifying.
Sofuoglu had been in a strong position all through qualifying but lost his chance of pole when Jules Cluzel set a lap only 0.037 seconds faster than Sofuoglu right at the end.
Lucas Mahias (Kawasaki Intermoto Ponyexpres) lost some practice time today and ended up 11th on the grid. Christian Gamarino (Team Go Eleven Kawasaki) went 14th fastest in qualifying for his home race, which is scheduled to be 17-laps long, on Sunday 10th May.
Kenan Sofuoglu: “Qualification was not a reference for us because we had a very good morning practice session, we did a lot of fast laps and then showed some very good race pace. I know in qualification some of our competitors can do one quick lap but I am not a one lap rider, I am a racer, and I am ready for the race tomorrow. I am just waiting for the green light.”
Marco Faccani: “I am very happy for this qualifying performance and the team worked well with me as normal. I hope for a strong race on Sunday and I think we can do some good work then.”