FIM Supersport World Championship
Misano World Circuit, San Marino
June 22, 2014
Race Results (all on Pirelli tires):
1. Jules CLUZEL, France (MV Agusta F3 675), 19 laps, 31:40.587
2. Michael VD MARK, Netherlands (Honda CBR600RR), -1.537 seconds
3. PJ JACOBSEN, USA (Kawasaki ZX-6R), -3.400
4. Kenan SOFUOGLU, Turkey (Kawasaki ZX-6R), -5.638
5. Roberto TAMBURINI, Italy (Kawasaki ZX-6R), -9.923
6. Lorenzo ZANETTI, Italy (Honda CBR600RR), -11.018
7. Florian MARINO, France (Kawasaki ZX-6R), -14.714
8. Kev COGHLAN, UK (Yamaha YZF-R6), -17.365
9. Rathapark WILAIROT, Thailand (Honda CBR600RR), -21.337
10. Roberto ROLFO, Italy (Kawasaki ZX-6R), -22.215
World Championship Point Standings (after 7 of 12 races):
1. Van Der Mark, 135 points
2. Cluzel, 107
3. Marino, 85
4. Zanetti, 70
5. Coghlan, 68
6. Sofuoglu, 67
7. Jacobsen, 56
8. Rolfo, 55
9. Raffaele De Rosa, 54
10. Tamburini, 48
More, from a press release issued by Pata Honda Supersport Team:
Second at Misano maintains van der Mark’s championship challenge
Pata Honda’s World Supersport championship leader Michael van der Mark finished second in today’s seventh-round race at Misano World Circuit ‘Marco Simoncelli’ in Italy, his sixth successive podium finish, which gives him a 28-point lead in the series as it enters the second half of the season.
The 21-year-old Dutch rider got a good start from the front row of the grid but his race almost ended at the beginning of lap three when another rider ran wide at Misano’s first turn and re-joined the track, almost colliding with van der Mark. The Pata Honda rider took evasive action but lost a position before beginning a charge back to race leader and eventual winner Jules Cluzel.
Van der Mark’s Pata Honda team-mate Lorenzo Zanetti was in the leading group for the early part of the race and held a lonely fifth place for 12 of the 19 laps around the 4.226km Misano circuit. The Italian ace, 26, dropped back to sixth at the flag to match his grid position but moves up to fourth place in the championship standings with five rounds to go.
Michael van der Mark – 2nd
We’ve had a really good weekend. We didn’t come last year with World Supersport but right from the start the bike was working really well. We improved every session and today I had a good pace. The start was OK and I was running third but after two laps, another rider ran wide and, in my opinion, he should have rejoined the track from the safety road. We almost touched and then Jacobsen passed me. When I got back to second position I tried to chase Jules [Cluzel] but he was really fast and made a perfect race. It would have been nice to stay with him from the beginning and have a nice fight – I tried everything to get to him but it wasn’t possible. I think overall we have worked really hard for the weekend and now I’m looking forward to Portimao which I think will suit me and the bike.
Lorenzo Zanetti – 6th
I’m not really happy because my reaction at the start was OK, but I wheelied a bit and lost some positions. Then I got stopped a couple of times by a championship rival and I lost maybe two seconds on the first lap. When I was by myself I had a good rhythm but I pushed too hard to re-join the front group and used up the tyre too early. This is racing but I am disappointed because I really wanted to fight for the podium here at Misano. I’m looking forward to Portimao, even though it’s probably my worst track of the season. I want to fight there as well because I need podiums to be able to challenge in the championship.
Pieter Breddels – technical co-ordinator
Lorenzo got held up a bit at the start of the race and then could not catch the leading group although he was matching their times. For sure, he will be looking to get to the podium next time. For Michael, the whole weekend was good. He, too, was held up at the beginning of the race and then, when he had clear track, he started to close on Cluzel. In the end he had to let him go but he brought it home in second which was really good.
More, from a press release issued by Kawasaki:
First Podium For Jacobsen As Sofuoglu Finishes Fourth
Kenan Sofuoglu (Kawasaki Mahi Racing Team India) had to settle for fourth place in the Misano WSS race but 2014 rookie Patrick Jacobsen (Kawasaki Intermoto Ponyexpres) put in a superb third place finish in his fist visit to the Italian circuit
For three time world champion Sofuoglu the race at Misano was challenging as he had a less than perfect race set-up by he time the flag dropped but he battled hard to stay in contention and took 13 points for his fourth place finish. He was only 5.638 seconds from the winner. Sofuoglu is now sixth overall in the championship, one point behind fifth place.
Jacobsen moved from a qualifying position of eighth to third in an impressive raceday performance, during what was only the seventh WSS weekend of his career. He is now seventh in the championship but his team-mate Florian Marino (Kawasaki Intermoto Ponyexpres) is still the highest placed Ninja ZX-6R rider after the Misano race. In finishing seventh at Misano Marino remained third in the overall points standings.
Roberto Tamburini (San Carlo Puccetti Racing Kawasaki) put in another great showing from a Kawasaki rider at Misano on raceday, taking fifth place and finishing within ten seconds of the win after 19-laps of intense action at the generally tight 4.226km long Misano track.
Local rider Roby Rolfo (Kawasaki Team Go Eleven) took tenth place today and made sure that half the top ten machines in the final race results would be Kawasaki Ninja ZX-6Rs.
Alessandro Nocco (San Carlo Puccetti Racing Kawasaki) had his second-best season finish of 11th at his home round, while Christian Gamarino (Kawasaki Team Go Eleven) was the last rider to score a point, for 15th place. Tony Covena (Kawasaki Ponyexpres Intermoto) placed 18th in the race, from 23 finishers.
The next round is at Portimao in Portugal, with raceday on Sunday 6th July.
Kenan Sofuoglu: “The race result disappointed me because my race pace was quite good even if earlier in the weekend I did not have such a good feeling on the front, as we had a chattering problem. We had an improvement with that in the race and in the last sector it was better than it had been all weekend. In the race it seems when we found something in that area we missed out a little in another area. I had a bit of a corner entry issue all through the race and the others were faster. I tried my best to stay with them but it was clear they could go faster than me. Now, step-by-step, the team is improving the bike and the settings but I cannot say I am on good form at the moment. I am trying my best to get my confidence back but for sure we are fighting to get a good result.”
Patrick Jacobsen: “I think we just found a couple of things with the bike that suit my style a little bit more and I think we are improving every race. Another new track for me but the bike felt really good in the race and I just could not stay with Cluzel who had a big gap at the beginning. I did all I could and to bring it home on the podium for my first podium; I was pretty happy with that.”
More, from a press release issued by MV Agusta:
ABSOLUTE MV AGUSTA DOMINATION AT MISANO
Varese, 22 June 2014 – MV Agusta triumphed once again in the seventh round of the World Supersport Championship: in fact, at Misano MV Agusta Reparto Corse team rider Jules Cluzel took his third pole and second win of the season.
The French rider dominated the race from the first lap, riding his F3 to victory. After an excellent start Cluzel pushed hard to maintain a consistent lead and then held onto it all the way to the chequered flag. With his first place finish today Cluzel reduced the gap in the standings to just 28 points behind championship leader Michael van der Mark.
Wild Card Massimo Roccoli also put in an excellent performance, staying in the points with a fourteenth place finish.
Jules Cluzel: “I am very pleased – more than pleased! We knew that the race would be very difficult, even from a physical point of view. I did exactly what I had wanted to do: I started from out front and tried to feel out my rivals’ pace straight away. I pushed hard from the first lap and was able to create a gap. Then I felt my tyres starting to lose grip. Van der Mark and I began to battle turn after turn with about a one second gap. The race was quite demanding both because of the heat and because of the focus needed to make it a flag to flag lead. But I didn’t make any mistakes. I want to thank the entire team for their excellent work this weekend.”
Massimo Roccoli: “It’s a shame about the result. I was given a great opportunity and this was truly a weekend of growth as was evident in the warm-up this morning. It’s too bad about the race result. We chose the wrong tyre – maybe we should have been more conservative. With that tyre was unable to press hard so I preferred not to take any unnecessary risks.”
Claudio Corti, on the other hand, rode an excellent first race to finish in thirteenth place, just behind the best EVO bikes, finishing the second race seventeenth.
Claudio Corti: “We are continuing to develop the bike as planned. Our feeling is getting better and better and I’m confident that at Portimao our work will already begin to take shape.”
Giovanni Castiglioni, President of MV Agusta: “This was very exciting, especially because at that moment I was reminded of the time when my father stepped onto the podium for the first time in 1992 with Eddie Lawson’s win on the Cagiva 500. We are improving considerably and I am confident that we can continue to do better and better.”