FIM Supersport World Championship
Misano World Circuit, San Marino
June 20, 2015
Qualifying Results (all on Pirelli tires):
1. Jules CLUZEL, France (MV Agusta F3 675), 1:37.482
2. Kenan SOFUOGLU, Turkey (Kawasaki ZX-6R), 1:37.955
3. PJ JACOBSEN, USA (Honda CBR600RR), 1:38.066
4. Lorenzo ZANETTI, Italy (MV Agusta F3 675), 1:38.658
5. Gino REA, UK (Honda CBR600RR), 1:38.856
6. Fabio MENGHI, Italy (Yamaha YZF-R6), 1:38.965
7. Alex BALDOLINI, Italy (MV Agusta F3 675), 1:39.116
8. Roberto ROLFO, Italy (Honda CBR600RR), 1:39.201
9. Christian GAMARINO, Italy (Kawasaki ZX-6R), 1:39.412
10. Kevin WAHR, Germany (Honda CBR600RR), 1:39.480
14. Martin CARDENAS, Colombia (Honda CBR600RR), 1:40.047
More, from a press release issued by Dorna WSBK Press Office:
Pole and best lap for Cluzel in Misano WSS qualifying
Series leader Sofuoglu and Jacobsen complete front row of the grid.
The sole qualifying session for the World Supersport championship held a short time ago at the Misano World Circuit “Marco Simoncelli” was a thriller, with the outright circuit best being bettered initially by Kenan Sofuoglu (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) and PJ Jacobsen (CORE’’ Motorsport Thailand Honda), before eventual Pole setter Jules Cluzel (MV Agusta Reparto Corse) demolished it by almost a second. The Frenchman’s time of 1.37.482s gave him an advantage over his rivals of 0.473s.
Sofouglu and Jacobsen were second and third and will take their respective places on the record-breaking front row of the grid for tomorrow’s 19-lap race.
The battle to make it onto the second row was as equally exciting with the three places available only decided in the final moments of the session. In the end fourth position on the grid went to Lorenzo Zanetti (MV Agusta Reparto Corse), with Gino Rea (CIA Landlords Insurance Honda) and Fabio Menghi fifth and sixth, respectively. For Menghi and the VFT Yamaha Racing squad it was their best ever qualifying position in the World Supersport championship.
Row 3 tomorrow will comprise Alex Baldolini (MV Agusta Reparto Corse), Roberto Rolfo (Lorini Honda), and Christian Gamarino (Team Go Eleven).
Kyle Smith was looking good for a front running grid slot until he crashed his Pata Honda. Unhurt, he will start 11th ahead of Marco Faccani (San Carlo Puccetti Racing Kawasaki), who also fell off his bike during the session.
More, from a press release issued by CIA Landlords Insurance Honda:
Gino fifth and looking for more
CIA LANDLORDS INSURANCE HONDA’S Gino Rea will start the eighth round of the World Supersport Championship at Misano in Italy from fifth place on the second row of the grid.
Gino said: “It’s been a good two days. The goal is always the front two rows, so it is positive on that side. I am a little frustrated with fifth as it could have been fourth but I was held up on two of my fast laps. I don’t think I had enough to reach the front row but I am feeling better on my CIA Landlords Insurance Honda.
“We have made small improvements and still have some chatter and vibration issues we are trying to solve; we will continue to work on them. I want to get away with the front group and fight for the podium in the race and think we are in a good position to do that.”
Riccardo Russo will start from 13th, ahead of Martin Cardenas in 14th and Kevin Manfredi in 20th. All three racers will be aiming to improve their positions in the race.
There is a warm up in the morning, before the race takes place at 1140 local time.
CIA Landlords Insurance Honda Team Manager, Simon Buckmaster, said: “Gino has done well to take a clear fifth place. We need to find a little more speed in warm up for him to challenge for the podium and are working hard on that now.
“Ricky and Martin are close on time and position as they have been all year. Neither of them qualifies as well as they race, so it is fair to say we are expecting top 10 finishes from both.
“This is a learning weekend for Kevin and he has qualified 20th. It will be interesting to see how high he can climb the results sheet in the race.”
More, from a press release issued by Kawasaki:
Sofuoglu On First Row And Ready For Misano Race
Kenan Sofuoglu (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) rode a strong qualifying session at Misano to start the FIM Supersport World Championship race on Sunday from second place on the grid, taking his desired front row start.
In dry conditions Sofuoglu and two other riders disputed pole position in the lone qualifying session at the 4.226km Italian circuit, with the Turkish competitor going second quickest with a lap time of 1’37.955.
Sofuoglu is now looking to score his fifth win of the year on Sunday to take an even greater championship lead than the 40 points he enjoys now into the next round, which will be held at Sepang in Malaysia, on August 2nd.
Christian Gamarino (Go Eleven Kawasaki) was the next best Kawasaki qualifier, in ninth place for a third row start, while Marco Faccani (San Carlo Puccetti Racing Kawasaki) was 12th at his home round. Dominic Schmitter (Team Go Eleven Kawasaki) ended up 17th and will now start from the sixth row.
Kenan Sofuoglu: “Jules has a very special one lap pace but it is not a problem because if he does not do one special lap I am surprised, if he does do it, it is normal. Our pace is very strong on a used tyre and I am happy for this. Probably there will be a good fight in tomorrow’s race and I am ready for that fight, and to challenge for 25 points. It does not matter to me if it is raining or dry – and rain is possible – but definitely no problem either way. Now the track has been resurfaced there are not so many bumps here at Misano and for that reason it is nice. I cannot claim that it is a favourite track for me or my bike but still we are second and still we are fast so that is a good thing.”
More, from a press release issued by Pata Honda:
Qualifying crash leaves Smith on Misano fourth row
Kyle Smith will start tomorrow’s eighth round World Supersport championship race from the fourth row of the grid after setting the 11th-fastest time in this afternoon’s qualifying session at the Misano World Circuit in Italy.
The 22-year-old Pata Honda rider has been setting impressive times in all three free practice sessions going into today’s final shoot-out for grid positions for tomorrow’s 19-lap race at the 4.226km Misano circuit.
However, a crash early in the 45-minute session left Smith languishing in his team’s pitbox waiting for his Honda CBR600RR to return for repairs. Unfortunately, it finally came back with just nine minutes of the session remaining and his team realized that it would take longer to fix than the time available.
Smith and his crew are confident that the race pace he has displayed in free practice at Misano can be enough to have him fighting near the front but a good start will certainly be required to make progress.
Kyle Smith – P11, 1m39.480s
I’m really disappointed because I felt like I could do well in qualifying but I think I just went out too eager and crashed. It was right at the beginning of the session and I think I could have pushed it back to the box in the time it took to get back, but they wouldn’t let me. The result was that I couldn’t get back out and only did four or five laps at the beginning of qualifying which left me in P11. We did a race simulation in the earlier Free Practice 3 and the CBR felt really good. I think that the confidence it gave me was part of the problem in going out too eager in qualifying, but I’ll try to get a decent start tomorrow and see what I can do from there.
Pieter Breddels – technical co-ordinator
It didn’t really go as planned today because Kyle crashed in the very first run in qualifying. This was a problem because one of the clip-ons broke and he couldn’t return his CBR to the pits. When it finally got back there was less than 10 minutes to go which was not enough time to get the bike ready again. There was nothing left to do but sit this one out and, in the end, his earlier time was good for 11th. He has a job to do tomorrow but his race pace is quite OK so I think that, with a good start in the race, a top five position is still possible.