FIM Supersport World Championship Silverstone Circuit, England August 4, 2012 Final Qualifying Results (wet conditions, all on Pirelli tires):
1. Jules CLUZEL, France (Honda CBR600RR), 2:22.258 2. Sam LOWES, UK (Honda CBR600RR), 2:23.264 3. Alexander LUNDH, Sweden (Honda CBR600RR), 2:23.522 4. Matthew SCHOLTZ, South Africa (Honda CBR600RR), 2:23.844 5. Imre TOTH, Hungary (Honda CBR600RR), 2:23.967 6. Vladimir LEONOV, Russia (Yamaha YZF-R6), 2:24.611 7. Ronan QUARMBY, South Africa (Honda CBR600RR), 2:24.821 8. A. ANTONELLI, Italy (Yamaha YZF-R6), 2:24.840 9. Alex BALDOLINI, Italy (Triumph Daytona 675), 2:25.042 10. Kenan SOFUOGLU, Turkey (Kawasaki ZX-6R), 2:25.235
20. Josh DAY, USA (Kawasaki ZX-6R), 2:27.455 21. Kenny NOYES, USA (Suzuki GSX-R600), 2:27.912
More, from a press release by PTR Honda:
PTR locks out front row at Silverstone home round
PTR HONDA’S Jules Cluzel mastered wet but drying conditions to take a convincing pole position and was followed home by Sam Lowes, Alex Lundh and Mathew Scholtz on PTR race bikes to complete the front row at the ninth round of the World Supersport Championship at Silverstone in the UK.
With PTR Honda’s Ronan Quarmby in an excellent seventh and Riders PTR Honda’s Martin Jessopp in a season best 16th, it is the Lincolnshire tuning firm’s best ever qualifying result in the World Supersport Championship. The race takes place tomorrow Sunday 5th August at 1330 GMT.
Jules: “This morning conditions were mixed but we went out and were pleased to be fastest. Then this afternoon I didn’t feel as comfortable on my bike so we made some changes to set up and everything felt good. At the end I was pushing hard on the drying line and I am happy with my third pole position of the season. More important is tomorrow and the race, I want to score good points for the Championship.”
Ronan: “I am happy with seventh after being 18th yesterday. What is really encouraging is that in the full dry I was second fastest and in the full wet second fastest. In the wet but drying I’m seventh. I just had to find a bit more confidence in myself – thanks for the phone call dad. I’m good to go in any weather conditions and looking forward to the race.”
Martin: “We found a set up improvement yesterday and I was determined to improve today. It is my best qualifying position of the season which is good and I am building confidence. Conditions were tricky but I will be happy whatever the weather for the race – although riding in the dry is always a bit nicer. I need a good start and did a couple of practices this afternoon, so we are in good shape for the race.”
Simon Buckmaster, PTR Honda Team Manager: “Today is a new high for PTR Honda taking three of the first four positions and also taking the final front row spot with our satellite supported bike. Jules was in great form today and is very quick rain or shine so we expect him to be front running. Ronan in seventh is in great shape as well; he has fantastic speed in any conditions and is riding confidently. Martin is starting to show some of his potential and made a step forward to get his best qualifying result. He should get a good points scoring finish tomorrow.”
More, from a press release issued by Bogdanka PTR Honda:
Lowes leads Bogdanka trio on Silverstone front row
BOGDANKA PTR HONDA’s Sam Lowes will start tomorrow’s race nine of the World Supersport Championship at Silverstone from second on the grid in front of his home fans and ahead of fellow Bogdanka riders Alexander Lundh and Mathew Scholtz.
Lowes is a close second overall in the Championship ahead of his second home race of the season and will be looking to replicate his race winning performance from Donington Park. Mathew Scholtz will be making his first World Supersport front row start and is aiming for a top ten finish.
Alexander Lundh put in an impressive performance to grab a front row start for his first race for the Bogdanka Honda PTR team and will be looking for a strong result when the lights go off at 13:30 local time tomorrow.
With PTR Honda’s Jules Cluzel on the pole position, this marks the historic, first all-PTR World Supersport front row as well as the first time all Bogdanka riders qualified in the top four.
Sam Lowes: “I’ve enjoyed the qualifying even if it was a bit of a strange session with the weather; but in the end it’s important to be on the front row again. I’m really happy because we’re fast both in the wet and dry, and we did a good job in the damp conditions today too. I hope it’s either wet or dry tomorrow and am looking forward to see what I can do in the race in front of the British fans. The plan for the race will depend on the conditions but I’m ready. I’m sure we can have a good race.”
Alexander Lundh: “We had a couple small problems with the electronics this morning, but I knew I could go a lot faster, so I was quietly confident ahead of the second qualifying. I had to go out and do my best hoping the conditions would be a little better than yesterday, so that I could improve my time. I had a good feeling and got on the front row. I made a mistake and crashed on the last lap but the most important thing is that we’re on the front row and it’s nice to come back to World Supersport for me so far. I hope we can carry that form to tomorrow and have a really good race too, but for now I’m really happy.”
Mathew Scholtz: “I went out on a full wet setup in the morning but decided to take my time as the track was drying. In the qualifying I had a really good rhythm and felt great on the bike. As the track started drying, I went faster and faster and ended up on the front row, which I’m very happy about. My goal for tomorrow is to battle for a top ten finish and then improve on that in the last few races of the season.”
Simon Buckmaster, Bogdanka PTR Honda Team Manager: “Sam is happy with second on the grid and took a very mature approach to a difficult wet but drying qualifying session. He stopped early when he had secured a front row start and is in excellent condition for the race whatever the weather. Well done to Mathew on his first front row start in WSS. He has done a fantastic job all weekend and is in great shape for the race. Congratulations to Alex Lundh on the satellite Bogdanka Honda PTR machine by giving that team its best ever qualifying performance by far.”
More, from a press release issued by Kawasaki:
Disturbed Weather Holds Back Kawasaki WSS Riders
WSS, Silverstone, Great Britain, 4 August 2012
Kenan Sofuoglu (Kawasaki Lorenzini) was the top Ninja ZX-6R rider on display in qualifying at Silverstone, tenth after enduring practice sessions which were affected by changeable weather conditions.
The unpredicatable British weather determined much of the fortunes of the best Kawasaki WSS riders but Sofuoglu was also riding with a swollen knee joint, after an old injury flared up again during the rigours of race weekend.
Kenan’s Kawasaki Lorenzini team-mate Sheridan Morais was also caught out by weather conditions and by losing some valuable track time this morning but he recovered and qualified 15th, with more improvements to come in warm-up for the tough South African rider.
Rookie WSS rider Romain Lanusse (Kawasaki Intermoto Step) was 13th on the grid and his teammate Fabien Foret was 17th, with the experienced Foret expected to move forward rapidly on race day.
New MSD R-N Racing Team India Kawasaki man Dan Linfoot was 19th, Joshua Day (GOELEVEN Kawasaki) went 20th while Florian Marino was 25th overall for the MSD R-N Racing Team India Kawasaki squad.
Kenan Sofuoglu: “One of the issues is that my knee is quite swollen at this event so the joint is not moving in a natural way. That makes it is impossible to push down on the footpeg hard, in a way I would like to at least. I have been to the Clinica Mobile to get some treatment and I am grateful for the help they have given me. I will have to ride around the problem tomorrow to make a good result, but we are all very determined.”
Sheridan Morais: “We had wet and dry and not quite dry conditions so in qualifying we are only in 15th place. Our first session was our only dry one and although we were not happy with our position on the grid today we were happy with where we were going in set-up direction and we are moving forward. We lost some track time this morning but the guys are finding out quite a bit after the final session in the afternoon so I am hoping now that we can make a clean start and make a good race out of it.”