FIM Supersport World Championship Portimao, Portugal October 23, 2009 Free Practice One Results (all on Pirelli tires): 1. Kenan SOFUOGLU (Honda CBR600RR), 1:45.355 2. Cal CRUTCHLOW (Yamaha YZF-R6), 1:45.652 3. Eugene LAVERTY (Honda CBR600RR), 1:45.727 4. Mark AITCHISON (Honda CBR600RR), 1:45.863 5. Joan LASCORZ (Kawasaki ZX-6R), 1:46.069 6. Garry MCCOY (Triumph Daytona 675), 1:46.464 7. Fabien FORET (Yamaha YZF-R6), 1:46.473 8. Miguel PRAIA (Honda CBR600RR), 1:46.597 9. Massimo ROCCOLI (Honda CBR600RR), 1:46.686 10. Andrew PITT (Honda CBR600RR), 1:46.894 11. Barry VENEMAN (Honda CBR600RR), 1:46.979 12. Michele PIRRO (Yamaha YZF-R6), 1:47.085 13. Katsuaki FUJIWARA (Kawasaki ZX-6R), 1:47.148 14. Chaz DAVIES (Triumph Daytona 675), 1:47.433 15. Michael LAVERTY (Honda CBR600RR), 1:47.712 16. Martin CARDENAS (Honda CBR600RR), 1:47.944 17. Kevin COGHLAN (Yamaha YZF-R6), 1:48.432 18. Sam LOWES (Honda CBR600RR), 1:49.399 19. Yannick GUERRA (Yamaha YZF-R6), 1:49.562 20. Tata PRADITA (Yamaha YZF-R6), 1:49.812 21. Arie VOS (Honda CBR600RR), 1:50.211 22. Olivier FOUR (Honda CBR600RR), 1:50.433 23. Flavio GENTILE (Honda CBR600RR), 1:51.016 24. Danilo DELL’OMO (Honda CBR600RR), 1:51.070 25. Robert MURESAN (Triumph Daytona 675), 1:51.250 26. Marcin WALKOWIAK (Yamaha YZF-R6), 1:52.355 More, from a press release issued by Team YZF Yamaha: Doni Tata Pradita 20th Kenan Sofuoglu (Honda) has been the fastest rider in the first free practice session, in front of the World Championship leader Cal Crutchlow (Yamaha) and his main opponent Eugene Laverty (Honda). Doni Tata Pradita, who discovered the Portimão track last January during the winter tests, finished today in 20th position. He did a lot of work with his team to find a good set up for its two motorcycles. This will allow him to do a quicker time tomorrow. Doni Tata Pradita: “I have a good feeling. I like this track. We worked to find a good setting. The first bike had a good handling, but the engine was not so good. The second bike was the opposite, with also a little brake problem. Tomorrow I will do a good effort. I am still not in good physical condition. I am happy, but at the end of the session I had some pain in my shoulder because of the many ups and downs of this track. I will try hard tomorrow.” Martial Garcia (team manager): “Doni still has some pain from his shoulder previously hurt in an accident. He saved the result with the 20th position, well served by a good bike with a good top speed.” More, from a press release issued by HANNspree Ten Kate Honda: Kenan Sofuoglu set the fastest time at a warm and sunny Portimao this afternoon as practice for Sunday’s final, championship-deciding World Supersport race got underway. The Turkish rider saved his best until last, after overcoming one or two technical issues during the session. Sofuoglu lapped the undulating 4.59km Portuguese circuit in a time of 1’45.355s, three tenths faster than series leader Cal Crutchlow, who tested at the circuit last week. Sofuoglu’s Hannspree Ten Kate Honda team-mate, Andrew Pitt, was tenth fastest this afternoon as rear grip problems restricted the Australian outgoing World Champion to a lap time of 1’46.894s. Kenan Sofuoglu P1, 1’45.355 I was not able to put more than two or three laps together this afternoon. First we had some brake problems and then, when I went out on the other bike, there were a couple of suspension settings to try. The bike is really strong going into downhill turns but I honestly expected to be maybe a second slower than the championship leaders because they tested here last week. We have developed a strong set-up in the last three races and it’s working here. It was only at the end that I was really able to push and the time came quite easily, so I am confident for the rest of the weekend. Andrew Pitt P10, 1’46.894s I really struggled with rear grip from the word go this afternoon. It’s just as bad on entry as it is on exit so we’ll have to look closely at the data to see if we need to put a bit more weight on the rear of the bike. Kenan doesn’t seem to have an issue with it, though, so we’ll overlay our data on his and see if there’s a clear direction we need to go in. Ronald ten Kate team manager Not such a bad start to the weekend, in which we have to be on top of our game to help Honda secure its seventh manufacturers’ title in World Supersport. Kenan couldn’t get into much of a rhythm this afternoon but still put in a good time at the end. Andrew has some more issues, but we should be able to work through those this evening and aim to get him up to speed tomorrow. More, from a press release issued by ParkinGP Triumph BE1 Racing: World Supersport has reached its final stage as Garry McCoy and Chaz Davies took to the track for the first practice session at Portimao today. Both riders continued where they left off ten days ago, when they tested for two days. Garry McCoy managed to improve his time and, at the same time, got a good feeling with the track which enabled him to set the sixth fastest time, while Chaz Davies still has to find the right setup in order for him to perform at his best. The team’s goal will therefore be to qualify in the first two rows with both riders and ride a good race on Sunday. GARRY McCOY | Triumph Daytona 675 | 6th in 1’46.464: “I made my debut with ParkinGO Triumph BE1 Racing, in the last race of 2008. I was then coming back from a serious injury I had suffered at Brno and finished thirteenth. We have done great things since then. Today we also improved the time I had set in testing despite the track not having a very good grip. However, we can only improve, we tested a few solutions, some of which were effective and hopefully we’ll be able to prepare two highly competitive machines for the race”. CHAZ DAVIES | Triumph Daytona 675 | 14th in 1’47.433: “I’m making my debut on this circuit. Here trajectories and under braking are both fundamental. I don’t have a good feeling with the bike but we looked into the telemetry data and we fixed the problems and tried out some possible solutions in order for me to have a good qualifying session tomorrow”.