FIM Supersport World Championship
Jerez Circuit, Spain
September 7, 2014
Race Results (all on Pirelli tires):
1. Michael VD MARK, Netherlands (Honda CBR600RR), 19 laps, 33:34.503
2. PJ JACOBSEN, USA (Kawasaki ZX-6R), -0.363 second
3. Florian MARINO, France (Kawasaki ZX-6R), -0.508
4. Jack KENNEDY, Ireland (Honda CBR600RR), -0.960
5. Kev COGHLAN, UK (Yamaha YZF-R6), -2.951 seconds
6. Lorenzo ZANETTI, Italy (Honda CBR600RR), -4.639
7. Roberto ROLFO, Italy (Kawasaki ZX-6R), -5.860
8. Rathapark WILAIROT, Thailand (Honda CBR600RR), -6.460
9. Alessandro NOCCO, Italy (Kawasaki ZX-6R), -10.477
10. Roberto TAMBURINI, Italy (Kawasaki ZX-6R), -10.875
12. Vladimir LEONOV, Russia (Honda CBR600RR), -18.066
13. Kenan SOFUOGLU, Turkey (Kawasaki ZX-6R), -19.253
24. Jules CLUZEL, France (MV Agusta F3 675), -2 laps, DNF, crash
25. Massimo ROCCOLI, Italy (MV Agusta F3 675), -4 laps, DNF, crash
26. Raffaele DE ROSA, Italy (Honda CBR600RR), -9 laps, DNF, crash
World Championship Point Standings (after 9 of 11 races):
1. Van Der Mark, 185 points
2. Marino, 109
3. Cluzel, 107
4. Zanetti, 90
5. Coghlan, 88
6. Jacobsen, 87
7. Sofuoglu, 86
8. Rolfo, 71
9. De Rosa, 67
10. Kennedy, 56
More, from a press release issued by Pata Honda:
Michael van der Mark takes World Supersport title in style
Pata Honda rider Michael van der Mark is the 2014 FIM World Supersport champion after winning today’s ninth round race at Jerez in Spain.
Starting from pole position, the 21-year-old Dutch rider got a good start but ran wide going into turn one at the 4.423km Jerez circuit. There followed 19 laps of nail-biting racing between van der Mark, his championship rival Jules Cluzel and Florian Marino, who finished in third place today.
Cluzel had to finish ahead of van der Mark in order to keep this year’s championship alive and the French rider rode hard to stay ahead of the Pata Honda CBR600RR.
Van der Mark knew what was required, however, and took the lead at the most important time of the race with just two laps remaining. However, Cluzel pushed too hard at the end of the penultimate lap and crashed out at the last corner, leaving van der Mark to complete his victory.
The win today is his fifth World Supersport triumph of the season, giving him an unassailable 76-point lead in the series with two rounds remaining. Today also marked the 10th world championship for the Ten Kate Honda Racing partnership and the 10th World Supersport manufacturers’ title for Honda with its various incarnations of the remarkable CBR600RR machine.
Van der Mark’s Pata Honda team-mate, Lorenzo Zanetti, began today’s 19-lap race from second place on the grid but was unable to maintain his pace as grip levels dropped. The 27-year-old Italian eventually finished in sixth place but moved up to fourth in the championship standings.
Michael van der Mark – 2014 World Supersport champion
I can’t believe it right now! It’s been a long journey to get here and since I started racing 10 years ago it’s been my dream to be world champion. I can thank my family and especially my father who has done so much to help me. He isn’t here – he has his own race today – so good luck to him! I also want to thank all my sponsors because maybe some of them you don’t see on the bike but they have always supported me. Also my 80-year-old trainer who keeps me fit and strong! Last but not least, the team has done an amazing job. This year they gave me an incredible CBR to ride with an amazing set-up. Last year we struggled a lot but this year we have shown that if everything fits together we can be world champion.
Lorenzo Zanetti – P6
I’m not very happy because the weekend was going well and we had a plan for the race. I got a good start, I waited for the tyre to come good but I seemed to lose the grip three laps before the other guys. I will have to look forward to the last two races and try to make sure this problem does not happen again. I think I had potential for a podium today and I wanted to finish on the podium when Mikey won the championship. But congratulations to him on his victory today, he has really ridden well this season.
Pieter Breddels – technical co-ordinator
The Supersport race was really exciting from the first lap to the last and the front three were overtaking each other throughout. Michael kept it together and finished first to win our 10th world championship. We’ll have a party tonight but I would like to pay special tribute to the team – not just Michael’s crew but the whole Supersport team. I know how hard they worked over last winter and they made it possible for the CBR to go faster. Lorenzo was really aggressive today and was fighting at the front but when the grip dropped he had some problems and he dropped back to sixth.
More, from a press release issued by Kawasaki:
Two Podiums For Kawasaki Riders As Sofuoglu Scores Points
Kenan Sofuoglu (San Carlo Puccetti Racing) battled the disadvantage of starting from pitlane in the 19-lap WSS race at Jerez and finished 13th but Kawasaki Intermoto Ponyexpres riders Patrick Jacobsen and Florian Marino finished second and third respectively.
A successful day for some Ninja ZX-6R riders was topped by the double podium of Jacobsen and Marino. Until the final lap Marino looked like his race-long pressure and determination to lead the pace would pay off, until Jules Cluzel crashed trying to pass him.
Florian had to run wide and new world champion and then race winner Michael van der Mark and Jacobsen passed by, to finish ahead of Marino on the podium. In the championship Marino is now second, with Jacobsen sixth.
Starting from pitlane Sofuoglu, riding for a new team this weekend, also found some unexpected issue with chatter he had not experienced in practice. Even though he set the fastest lap of the race on lap two, with a 1’44.849, he could only score three points. He is now seventh in the championship with two rounds to go.
Roberto Rolfo (Team Go Eleven) put himself seventh in the race, while Alessandro Nocco and Roberto Tamburini (San Carlo Puccetti Racing) finished ninth and tenth respectively.
Christian Gamarino (Team Go Eleven) secured a point for 15th, the last Kawasaki rider to do so. Tony Covena (Kawasaki Intermoto Ponyexpres) was 18th. Next round is in France, at Magny Cours, on October 5.
Kenan Sofuoglu: “I think getting some points is the best result we could make. I cannot say it was easy for me because this year we have had too many hard situations and this time it was starting from pitlane. Now I am in a new team and today I had a real chatter problem. I do not know why but I think it is because I have not had the chance to do so many laps on my new bike. I think it is the different character of the engine and electronics because after a few laps I had some issues entering corners. We cannot say that finishing 13th was a good weekend for us but it was nice to work with this team.”
More, from a press release issued by Michael Hill Promotions:
Leonov 12th In Rivamoto WSS Race Debut At Jerez
With less than 4 hours track time Rivamoto Honda declared themselves happy after Vladmir Leonov claimed 12th position and 4 World Supersport championship points on their return to the series at Jerez this afternoon.
For Leonov it was the first race for several months, his first on a Honda and the first time he had ridden a bike with drive by wire fitted since 2010. Combine this with the limited track time across the weekend and the technical issue in qualifying at the result is even more impressive.
From the start, the steps forward made by the team overnight were clearly evident as Vladamir was soon several places ahead of where he qualified and battling hard on the fringe of the top ten.
At the flag, and after an intense race long fight that saw him close to within 0.6s of the fastest race lap Leonov crossed the line to claim a well deserved 12th position on his Rivamoto race debut.
Looking ahead, Rivamoto make no secret of wanting to be back in the World Supersport Championship full time in 2015 and ask any parties that may be interested in collaborating to get in touch via email: [email protected]
Konstantin Zotov – Team Manager: “It was a really positive weekend for us, one that we really enjoyed. It was great to be back in the paddock. We improved session by session which was the initial target and in the race itself we were considerably faster than qualifying. We definitely found a good direction overnight and in the warm up and to be only 0.6s from the outright fastest lap of the race is encouraging. We want to be in Magny-Cours but at the moment we don’t have everything in place that we need to allow us to be there. From the team side of things we are trying everything we can to continue because we want to prove that we are still more than capable of top ten results. We can’t forget also that Vladimir had a tough job this weekend, not only had he not raced for 3 months but he had never ridden a Honda or a bike with drive by wire since 2010. We give credit to him and am pleased that he can show his ability to fight with limited track time in these circumstances. We want to stay in the championship and are looking at any possibility. Thanks to everyone this weekend both inside the team for their dedication and for the support that we received within the paddock.”
Vladamir Leonov: “It’s been a good weekend and I am happy to be back racing again. We found a better solution for the race but overall we just didn’t have enough time to make it perfect, especially with the issue in qualifying. Nevertheless the team did a great job and everyone is very motivated so a big thanks to them. In the race I got a good start and was involved with a lot of fighting but as I said we just needed a bit more time to improve things more. I hope that we can continue in France but right now I don’t know. Thanks again to the whole Rivamoto team and to everyone that supported us this weekend.”