FIM Supersport World Championship Nurburgring, Germany September 8, 2012 Final Qualifying Results (all on Pirelli tires): 1. Jules CLUZEL, France (Honda CBR600RR), 1:59.201 2. Sam LOWES, UK (Honda CBR600RR), 1:59.210 3. Broc PARKES, Australia (Honda CBR600RR), 1:59.226 4. Kenan SOFUOGLU, Turkey (Kawasaki ZX-6R), 1:59.521 5. Fabien FORET, France (Kawasaki ZX-6R), 1:59.637 6. Vladimir LEONOV, Russia (Yamaha YZF-R6), 1:59.816 7. Gabor TALMACSI, Hungary (Honda CBR600RR), 2:00.079 8. Sheridan MORAIS, South Africa (Kawasaki ZX-6R), 2:00.180 9. Roberto TAMBURINI, Italy (Honda CBR600RR), 2:00.305 10. Alex BALDOLINI, Italy (Triumph Daytona 675), 2:00.410 25. Josh DAY, USA (Kawasaki ZX-6R), 2:01.989 More, from a press release issued by PTR Honda: PTR HONDA’S Jules Cluzel took an impressive fifth pole position of 2012 at the 11th round of the World Supersport Championship at the Nurburgring in Germany – a track he has never visited before. Ronan Quarmby on his PTR Honda improved his lap times and will start from 12th on the third row but has shown in free practice he has the pace to run well into the top 10 if he gets a good start. Martin Jessop on his Riders PTR Honda found more time and will start from 30th on the grid. The race starts on Sunday 9th September at 1330CET. Jules: “Yeah I am happy as this is my first time at the track and I learn it quickly. I think I still need to improve a little bit because I know tomorrow Kenan will be really pushing like in Russia. We still have some improvements to try in the morning and we will try to do our best. My target is to finish on the podium, but if possible to win.” Ronan: “I improved my lap time and I am OK with 12th, I can still make a good result from here. My starts are normally good and I really think I have the pace to run well inside the top 10. I am enjoying myself and looking forward to the race tomorrow.” Martin: “I keep getting faster but my qualifying is not getting any better. I am closer to pole than yesterday and we concentrated on trying to ride the bike the way it needs to be ridden. I am always a better racer than qualifier, so I’m planning on a good start and to see how high I can climb up the results sheet – following people in the race will help me.” Simon Buckmaster, PTR Honda Team Manager: “It’s a great job by Jules and the boys on his fifth pole of the season; he has good race pace as well and the tyre situation looks good. It’s going to be a tough fight with the usual suspects in the race – it will be Jules, Sam and Kenan for the podium. Ronan has qualified 12th and that is a big improvement. He has good race pace and should get a decent top 10 result. Martin has been working to improve his lap time but in such a competitive field he is 30th and will have to fight really hard for points tomorrow.” More, from a press release issued by Bogdanka PTR Honda: BOGDANKA PTR HONDA’S Sam Lowes missed pole position by just 0.009secs at the Nurburgring and will start the 11th round of the World Supersport Championship from second on the grid. Mathew Scholtz slashed his lap time by 1.3seconds to take 17th on the grid on his Bogdanka PTR Honda and is in a strong position to score points in the race despite losing significant track time yesterday afternoon after a crash. Miguel Praia on the sister Bogdanka Honda PTR team will start from 26th on the grid on his comeback race in the World Supersport Championship. The race starts tomorrow, Sunday 9th September at 1330 CET. Sam: “That was really good, I am happy with my Bogdanka PTR Honda and with the pace we had this morning for the race. In qualifying I didn’t feel the need to bite the screen – it is clear the race is going to be me, Jules and Kenan as usual. Instead I worked on the bike a bit more and we have got something to try in the morning now. I used the session to learn rather than just go for pole; I used my head and I am ready for the race, which is the important bit. There’s not a lot in it, I am relaxed, let’s see what we can do tomorrow.” Mathew: “In qualifying 1 I crashed on the third lap, so was very conscious I could go faster today. I would have like the top 10 but the times are really close, so I am pretty confident for the race I can go better and push more. I will definitely be fighting in the points.” Miguel: “I am happy to be back racing in the World Supersport Championship. As ever, qualification is very close and I am a better racer than qualifier, so my aim for tomorrow is to get a good start and try to score some points.” Simon Buckmaster, Bogdanka PTR Honda Team Manager: “Sam is in good shape and second on the grid with good race pace. He is happy with his bike and we will look to improve it further in warm up. We are expecting a good fight with Jules and Kenan for the podium. Mathew has done a good job considering he lost most of first qualifying yesterday. Although 17th, we are positive he will be in the mix for the points in the race.” More, from a press release issued by Kawasaki: Sofuoglu And Morais Well Placed On The Nürburgring Grid WSS, Nürburgring, Germany, 8 September 2012 Kenan Sofuoglu took his Kawasaki Lorenzini Ninja ZX-6R to fourth place and the front row of the grid for Sunday’s race, while his team-mate Sheridan Morais was eighth. Fabien Foret qualified fifth. FIM Supersport World Championship points leader Kenan Sofuoglu played his usual pre-race card at the sun-kissed German round, ensuring he got onto the front row but otherwise working towards a strong raceday set-up as he looks to come closer to the championship itself. He was fourth in the pre-race rankings despite suffering a fall before completing the first lap in the second qualifying session. With a healthy and hard won 33-point championship lead in place before he entered the German round, Sofuoglu now has a chance of leaving with his third world championship title, and his first for Kawasaki, but only if things go exactly his way on raceday. Fabien Foret (Intermoto Step Racing) qualified just one place behind Kenan and despite a late fall on a bumpy section of tarmac at the final chicane Sheridan Morais (Kawasaki Lorenzini) believes he also has a good race set-up, and is looking forward to moving up from his qualifying position of eighth. Foret’s team-mate Romain Lanusse took his Kawasaki Intermoto Step Ninja ZX-6R to 22nd place. Dan Linfoot from the MSD R-N Team India Kawasaki squad was 13th on the grid and Florian Marino, his team-mate, was 17th. Kenan Sofuoglu: “I am confident because I worked really hard in the morning for race pace and the team did really well. I knew after having a small crash at the beginning of the second qualifying session this afternoon that I was not going to get a pole position today, but there were two choices. I could work for a fast lap time or work for the race. I chose to work for the race, so I knew I would not have an ideal set-up for one fast lap time. We are ready for the race and my bike can keep a very good pace for race distance. The dry and consistent weather has been a big help for me because I needed the track time to set-up the bike. The work we did yesterday was very important and I am happy with all the work we have done up to now. If we do well tomorrow also then we are very close for the championship.” Sheridan Morais: “I started my braking a bit later into the chicane near the end and I was a bit wider there. I hit the bumps and the forks bottomed out. It is not good to crash but otherwise I am happy because we made good inroads with the bike again. But in quite a few races this season we could not use the soft tyre for the qualifying laps, so I know there is a better lap time in there. We are qualifying with a race set-up and full race tyres and still doing pretty decent times, so although I am not happy about the crash I am happy about race pace for tomorrow. Starting on the second row is good considering what happened. There is a long run to the first turn so hopefully we can make up a few spots there and be in it.”