FIM Supersport World Championship
Donington Park, England
May 28, 2016
Qualifying Results (all on Pirelli tires):
From Superpole Session Two:
1. Kenan SOFUOGLU, Turkey (Kawasaki ZX-6R), 1:30.298
2. PJ JACOBSEN, USA (Honda CBR600RR), 1:30.522
3. Luke STAPLEFORD, UK (Triumph Daytona 675), 1:30.677
4. Alex BALDOLINI, Italy (MV Agusta F3 675), 1:30.908
5. Randy KRUMMENACHER, Switzerland (Kawasaki ZX-6R), 1:31.039
6. Ayrton BADOVINI, Italy (Honda CBR600RR), 1:31.108
7. Gino REA, UK (MV Agusta F3 675), 1:31.205
8. Kyle SMITH, UK (Honda CBR600RR), 1:31.404
9. Lorenzo ZANETTI, Italy (MV Agusta F3 675), 1:31.516
10. Illia MIKHALCHIK, Ukraine, Kaw ZX-6R, 1:31.594
11. Alessandro ZACCONE, Italy (Kawasaki ZX-6R), 1:31.728
12. Ondrej JEZEK, Czech Republic (Kawasaki ZX-6R), 1:34.576, crash
Others:
32. Braeden ORTT, Canada (Honda CBR600RR), 1:34.235
More, from a press release issued by Kawasaki:
Sofuoglu Fastest In Superpole And Krummenacher Fifth
Kawasaki Puccetti Racing riders Kenan Sofuoglu and Randy Krummenacher finished first and fifth respectively in the Superpole 2 competition at Donington Park, in readiness for Sunday’s 20-lap race. Kenan earned the right to start from the front row and Randy from row two.
Sofuoglu secured his fourth Superpole win of the season today and extended his all-time record of pre-race success in this class of racing to 27. This total is five more than the closest competitor. Sofuoglu will now look to capitalise on his perfect starting position in Sunday’s race, as he goes out to extend his current championship lead.
A return to Donington for Krummenacher was a positive experience but he could not quite find the final elements of pace he needed in the slower corners to build a perfect qualifying lap and challenge his team-mate for a front row starting place. Heading off in Sunday’s race from the middle of the front row Randy is still well placed in a field that contained 35 riders in practice.
Both riders were helped by warm and dry conditions at the classically sculpted British circuit, which offered consistent track conditions to work with. After practice and qualifying the riders will now have one more warm-up on Sunday morning, and then the race itself at noon on Sunday, UK time.
Kenan Sofuoglu stated: “I am happy and confident of my race pace. If we do not have any problems we can go to win the race. I tried to make a really fast lap time like last year but it is a little bit different. The tyre is a different specification from last year, so it was a little bit more difficult to push harder. I am happy to work with this team and Kawasaki and I think our race pace is good. I did 23 laps on the same tyre and my fastest lap was near the end, so this is a very good thing to know. The bike is working very well and we have almost not touched the bike. At every track the bike is working well and all of these things also came from last year when we had a very good package.”
Randy Krummenacher stated: “It was not perfect in Superpole 2 but that is part of racing, which cannot always be really good. Fifth on the grid is not the end of the story. The race is long and it is OK to start from the second row. I expected a bit more for sure but let’s analyse everything now and we can do better on Sunday. The line around Donington is completely different on a Supersport 600 bike compared to my previous experiences here and I am struggling a bit in the slow corners. I need to make up some time by myself in those points. I know that. In the race it will be different because I have some reference, so I think I can improve.”
More, from a press release issued by CIA Insurance Honda:
Third row start for Smith at Donington Park
Sat, 28 May 2016
CIA Landlord Insurance Honda rider Kyle Smith starts the seventh round of the World Supersport Championship at Donington Park tomorrow from the third row of the grid in 8th position following Superpole 2.
Kyle said: “It’s not been a bad day we are closer than we have been in the other races in the dry conditions. The split lap times have been coming, I’ve just not been able to put the perfect lap together. The bike feels about there so hopefully if I get into a rhythm in the race there is no reason why I can’t be battling up there.”
Hikari Okubo is really starting to show his potential getting into the 31s and qualifying 16th at his first visit to Donington Park. Hikari will be looking to score more Championship points tomorrow.
Christoffer Bergman qualified in 21st place and local youngster Stefan Hill ended the day in 23rd position looking on track for another top 20 finish tomorrow.
CIA Landlord Insurance Honda Team Manager, Simon Buckmaster said: “We have some work to do to be in contention for the podium tomorrow. We have some areas to improve the bike settings and there are some areas where Kyle can improve. We will study the data with Kyle to improve for warm up tomorrow. A really good job by Hikari on his first visit to Donington Park and we can expect him to finish in the points in the race. We will compare data to look at areas for improvement for Christoffer for warm-up tomorrow. Stefan continued to improve in every session and looks good for another top twenty finish in front of his home crowd.”
More, from a press release issued by Honda:
Second place on the grid for Jacobsen after UK Superpole
Round 7 – UK
Donington Park, United Kingdom
PJ Jacobsen has claimed his third front-row start of the season by finishing today’s Superpole 2 of the FIM Supersport World Championship at Donington Park in second place. The 22-year-old American equalled his best qualifying result of 2016, which was scored at the opening round at Phillip Island exactly three months ago.
Between this morning’s free practice 3 and the early afternoon’s Superpole 2 session, Jacobsen was able to complete a good number of laps onboard his Honda CBR600RR #2 machine, showing once again great speed and consistency under East Midland’s blue skies. His 1’30.522 lap-time in the end was only 0.224 seconds shy of pole position.
The seventh World Supersport race of the season will get underway tomorrow at noon (GMT+1) and will be contested over a 20-lap distance.
Patrick Jacobsen 2
2nd / 1’30.552
Things went pretty well today in qualifying. The time I was able to put together was quite a good one and I knew it would put me on the front row. I’m happy for that and also for the team, as everyone is working so hard to make sure I have the best possible bike. The Honda CBR600RR feels very well and I have a very competitive pace, so tomorrow it will be all about getting a good start, trying to stay near the front while saving the tyres and then see what happens in the final laps.
Pieter Breddels
Technical Manager
We did some fine tuning this morning in FP3: basically we went back to the front-fork settings of free practice 1 while making some rear-suspension adjustments, which gave PJ some more stability under braking. He was very happy with the set-up of the bike and was able to ride it the way he likes. I think we are in the right position for tomorrow’s race; the pace is there and it’s very good, so I think PJ can challenge for the podium, if not for the win.