The second round of the FIM Supersport World Championship is set to get underway this weekend at the Chang International Circuit in Thailand, where PJ Jacobsen and the Honda WorldSSP Team hope to make one step closer to the front after a top-5 finish in Phillip Island’s season opener. In last year’s encounter, the 22-year-old American missed second place at the finish line for just 0.032s, eventually rounding the podium as third.

Jacobsen is now eager to try his Honda machine for the first time on the twisty 4.554 km (2.830 mi) Thai circuit, located near the city of Buri Ram (literally the ‘city of happiness’), in order to claim what would be his tenth podium in the series. In 2015, it was in fact a Honda to win the race with local rider Ratthapark Wilairot, that same CBR600RR that five rounds later ended up in PJ’s hands.

Patrick Jacobsen 99

I’m really looking forward to be racing in Thailand, after the top 5 result in Australia. We can do a lot better than fifth, that’s for sure, so I’m eager to prove a point and to get where we deserve to be. I’m ready to step up and I like the track a lot. Last year the race went really well there and I’m sure I can do even better with the package I have now. The goal is to start the weekend off on the right foot, then see where we are at and what we can do.

Pieter Breddels

Technical Manager

We’re heading to Thailand now. Fifth place in Australia was an OK result, but we know that our goal is being on the podium at every race. Due to some late grip issues we were unable to do so in there, but we expect not to encounter this type of problems at the Chang International Circuit, which is a very different track compared to Phillip Island. PJ is an incredibly talented rider and I’m confident we will be able to fight for a top 3 finish.