FIM Supersport World Championship
Motorland Aragon, Spain
April 12, 2015
Race Results (all on Pirelli tires):
1. Kenan SOFUOGLU, Turkey (Kawasaki ZX-6R), 16 laps, 30:47.195
2. PJ JACOBSEN, USA (Kawasaki ZX-6R), -3.224 seconds
3. Kyle SMITH, UK (Honda CBR600RR), -5.695
4. Gino REA, UK (Honda CBR600RR), -11.281
5. Lorenzo ZANETTI, Italy (MV Agusta F3 675), -11.334
6. Alex BALDOLINI, Italy (MV Agusta F3 675), -16.639
7. Fabio MENGHI, Italy (Yamaha YZF-R6), -17.010
8. Dominic SCHMITTER, Switzerland (Kawasaki ZX-6R), -18.801
9. Christian GAMARINO, Italy (Kawasaki ZX-6R), -24.178
10. Roberto ROLFO, Italy (Honda CBR600RR), -24.655
21. Jules CLUZEL, France (MV Agusta F3 675), -6 laps, DNF, mechanical
22. Martin CARDENAS, Colombia (Honda CBR600RR), -9 laps, DNF, retired
23. Ratthapark WILAIROT, Thailand (Honda CBR600RR), -12 laps, DNF, crash
World Championship Point Standings (after 3 of 12 races):
1. Sofuoglu, 55 points
2. Jacobsen, 42
3. Wilairot, 36
4. Rea, 35
5. Zanetti, 31
6. Smith, 29
7. Baldolini, 26
8. Cluzel, 25
9. Rolfo, 24
10. Schmitter, 16
More, from a press release issued by Dorna WSBK Press Office:
Aragon WSS race win goes to Sofuoglu
The first European race of this year’s World Supersport championship was decided in favour of Kenan Sofuoglu (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing). Poleman Jules Cluzel (MV Agusta Reparto) was in contention until lap twelve, when for the second race in a row he suffered a technical problem while fighting for the lead. The Frenchman was clearly distraught as he leaned his bike against the pit wall, leaving former Champion Sofuoglu to claim his 21st WSS race victory – ending the winning drought which lasted for exactly a year – by a comfortable margin of 3.224s, and with it the championship lead.
PJ Jacobsen (Kawasaki Intermoto Ponyexpres) who was also in the hunt from the start eventually finished second, with Pata Honda World Supersport’s Kyle Smith taking the final podium place in third.
Gino Rea recovered from an average start to end the race in fourth, the Brit getting the better of Italian Lorenzo Zanetti (MV Agusta Reparto Corse) in a photo finish. Alex Baldolini (Race Department ATK#25) continued his solid start to the year, scoring ten points for a hard earned sixth at the flag ahead of compatriot Fabio Menghi (VFT Racing Yamaha ) who had his best result in WSS since Imola last year.
There was a multi rider crashes on lap six, with Thai race winner Ratthapark Wilairot (CORE Motorsport Thailand), Marco Faccani (San Carlo Puccetti Racing) and Lucas Mahias (Kawasaki Intermoto Ponyexpres) all falling from the top-8 without injury.
More, from a press release issued by Kawasaki:
Sofuoglu And Kawasaki Puccetti Racing Take First 2015 Win
Kenan Sofuoglu (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) carried on his continual improvement this year to secure his first WSS win for almost a year and in doing so give his team their first victory at this level of racing. Kawasaki had more success in Spain with Intermoto Ponyexpress rider PJ Jacobsen finishing second, and the riders’ championship now being led by Sofuoglu, who is 13 points ahead of Jacobsen.
The action was tough and intense at the 5.077km Motorland Aragon circuit in Spain, with Jules Cluzel joining front row qualifiers Sofuoglu and Jacobsen in a fight for the podium positions, ahead of the chasing riders.
Cluzel was to stop with a technical issue, which allowed Sofuoglu to make the decisive break on Jacobsen, running out the winner by 3.224 seconds. Jacobsen leaves with the new lap record, 1’54.605, set on lap two of the 16-lap contest.
Behind the leading duo it was a tougher day for some other riders, with Lucas Mahias (Kawasaki Intermoto Ponyexpres) falling from fourth place, and directly afterwards Marco Faccani (San Carlo Puccetti Racing Kawasaki) crashing out after being struck by another rider on corner entry, while also holding a strong position.
Team Go Eleven Kawasaki riders Dominic Schmitter and Christian Gamarino once again put on a good display in WSS, going eighth and ninth respectively.
In the championship itself Sofuoglu leads with 55 points, Jacobsen has 42, and Schmitter sits in 10th place with 16 points.
The fourth round will take place at Assen in the Netherlands, on 19th April, just one week from today.
Kenan Sofuoglu: “This is the place I want to be. I have been so tired of being down in the championship positions, now we are leading and this race win is what we needed. I told myself I had to go for the win in Aragon and we did it. It is almost one year since I was in first pace but I have to say a big thanks to my team. They deserve it – more than me – because they have done a very good job. I am so happy to have brought it home at the front for them.”
PJ Jacobsen: “I knew I had to be real aggressive at the beginning of the race and I knew I had a pretty fast rhythm in qualifying. I did not know where that was going to take me in the race. I tried to slow it up for a while but once Cluzel broke it split up Kenan and I a little bit. I tried to close the gap but I felt I had less grip towards the end, so I took it home for second.”
More, from a press release issued by Pata Honda:
Podium joy for Smith at Aragon
Pata Honda’s Kyle Smith finished today’s 16-lap World Superport race at Aragon, Spain on the podium in third place.
Scoring his first WSS podium with the team at a circuit he calls home, Smith struggled during the first few laps to find pace but eventually settled into a rhythm to take the third podium spot.
The CBR600RR rider enjoyed a battle with Gino Rea for most of the race and managed to create a healthy gap on the tenth lap and finished just two-seconds behind second place finisher Patrick Jacobsen.
The fourth-round of the championship takes place next weekend 17-19 April at the team’s home circuit at Assen, the Netherlands where Smith will be fighting for another podium place.
Kyle Smith – 3rd
I am so happy to be on the podium for the first time in Supersport and especially here with my family and friends around me. This weekend hasn’t been easy as we have worked towards finding the right setting for the CBR600RR and I felt that I had more chance of a podium at the last two rounds. However, I settled into the race and thought if I can’t be the fastest then to be the most consistent so concentrated on getting good consistent lap times and it brought me the podium. I’m really chuffed with the result and we just have some things to work on ahead of Assen next weekend.
Pieter Breddels
At the beginning of the race Kyle immediately lost some time with the front runners, which was a real shame as once he got going in the race he was improving and closing the gap quite fast, in the end he was just two-seconds short of second place, but he scored his first WSS podium and we’re really happy with that. Hopefully now he has the taste for the podium and we’re looking forward to going to our home race with a third place under our belts and seeing what we can do there.