FIM Supersport World Championship Magny Cours, France October 2, 2009 Free Practice One Results (all on Pirelli tires): 1. Kenan Sofuoglu (Hon CBR600RR), 1:41.885 2. Joan Lascorz (Kaw ZX-6R), 1:41.903 3. Fabien Foret (Yam YZF-R6), 1:42.604 4. Andrew Pitt (Hon CBR600RR), 1:42.851 5. Massimo Roccoli (Hon CBR600RR), 1:42.927 6. Barry Veneman (Hon CBR600RR), 1:42.931 7. Eugene Laverty (Hon CBR600RR), 1:43.022 8. Katsuaki Fujiwara (Kaw ZX-6R), 1:43.032 9. Cal Crutchlow (Yam YZF-R6), 1:43.138 10. Garry McCoy (Tri Daytona 675), 1:43.228 11. Matthieu Lagrive (Hon CBR600RR), 1:43.362 12. Mark Aithison (Hon CBR600RR), 1:43.369 13. Michele Pirro (Yam YZF-R6), 1:43.452 14. Chaz Davies (Tri Daytona 675), 1:43.801 15. Olivier Four (Hon CBR600RR), 1:44.200 16. Arie Vos (Hon CBR600RR), 1:44.286 17. Miguel Praia (Hon CBR600RR), 1:44.438 18. Sam Lowes (Hon CBR600RR), 1:44.489 19. Robert Muresan (Tri Daytona 675), 1:44.532 20. Dan Linfoot (Yam YZF-R6), 1:44.588 More, from a press release issued by Parkalgar Honda: Laverty edges Crutchlow in first practice PARKALGAR HONDA’S Eugene Laverty finished seventh just in front of his title rival Cal Crutchlow who was ninth in today’s first practice for Sunday’s 13th and penultimate round of the World Supersport Championship at Magny Cours in France. Parkalgar Honda racer Miguel Praia was 17th and will be looking to improve tomorrow as he goes for another personal best result after finishing ninth last weekend at Imola in Italy. Further practice and qualifying sessions take place tomorrow before the race at 1325CET on Sunday, October 4th which can be viewed on Eurosport or www.worldsbk.com [http://www.worldsbk.com/]. Eugene: “I felt good from the word go and learnt the track quickly. I got a good feeling for the track and could attack it straight away. We know the changes we need to make to our Parkalgar Honda to go faster what the track needs from our bike. I want a better front end feeling in the slow tight corners where I am losing some time. It’s all good though, we are on the same pace as Cal and I am happy.” Miguel: “I was slower than expected as I struggled to change direction in the fast corners that is my main problem. We tried different positions on the bike but I think we will go back to the settings from Imola and start from there. We did some good distance tyre testing which was useful and tomorrow I will go for a faster lap time.” Simon Buckmaster, Parkalgar Honda Team Manager: “The Championship is now between Eugene and Cal and while we want to win the race it is more important that we beat Cal. The pressure is high and Cal crashed again today. Eugene learnt the track and got steadily faster and was consistent he’s in a good frame of mind and had a controlled positive session. Miguel disappointed in 17th as we expect him to be higher but we will work with him and he should be inside the top 15 tomorrow.” More, from a press release issued by HANNspree Ten Kate Honda: Kenan Sofuoglu was the fastest rider in today’s free practice session for Sunday’s 13th round 2009 World Supersport championship race at Magny-Cours in France. His Hannspree Ten Kate Honda team-mate, Andrew Pitt, set the fourth fastest time this afternoon, lapping the 4.41km French circuit in a time of 1’42.851s, less than a second slower than Sofuoglu’s own best. The Turkish rider, however, who won last weekend’s Imola encounter, had a crash early in today’s session and set his best time on his spare machine, with which he was not entirely comfortable. Kenan Sofuoglu P1, 1’41.885s It’s never good to crash, but at least I know why it happened we had a gearing issue and I missed my braking point! What was really annoying was that there was no transport to get back to the box, so it felt like I lost nearly half the session watching the other riders go by. When I finally got back, I had to go out on the other machine, which had some problems of its own. We need to do some work tomorrow to improve in some areas. I think the lap times will probably be faster by maybe a second, but I know the team is pretty sure which direction we need to go in, so we should be OK. Andrew Pitt P4, 1’42.851s I managed to get a bit of a roll on at the end there. We still have a few issues with the bike trying to push into the turns, but we can work on that. We tried both tyres in that session and a different shock to try and find a bit more stability through the longer turns. We made some good steps forward at the end and there’s definitely some more to come tomorrow. Ronald ten Kate team manager We are quite happy with that start to the weekend, although there are still quite some problems to tackle tonight and tomorrow. It all seems to go so much easier than earlier in the season, when every solution brought another problem. Now, every solution is a positive step forward. The pace is already pretty quick but we’re quite sure that the times will improve tomorrow. We’re also quite sure that we will be able to, as well. More, from a press release issued by Yamaha: Yamaha World Supersport rider Fabien Foret was on fantastic form today on his home circuit of Magny Cours. The first free practice session of the weekend saw Foret consistently in the top five for the session, ending it with third place on the timesheets. The Magny Cours circuit was lacking in grip and proving very slippery with no less than eight Supersport riders crashing out during the session. Foret’s team mate Cal Crutchlow was one of the eight to crash, losing the front end on a fast sweeping bend. Crutchlow was able to get back out on his second bike for the remainder of the session but struggled to find a set up that worked perfectly for him, ending the session in ninth. Fabien Foret, Yamaha World Supersport Team, (3rd, 1’42.604) “I’m not a big fan of this racetrack and I took it easy today. I have a pretty good feeling with my front tyre, so I was just enjoying my bike and the lap times were coming. I was looking for a good race pace, I think I still have a half second to find. It’s been a good start to the weekend.” Cal Crutchlow, Yamaha World Supersport Team, (9th, 1’43.138) “It’s not been a great session for me today. I lost the front going into an off-camber right hander and crashed, I’ve got quite a sore shoulder now and I didn’t feel that confident in the front end afterwards. We need to work more on our set up and gearing overnight and see what we can come up with in tomorrow’s sessions.” Wilco Zeelenberg, Yamaha World Supersport Team Manager “the track feels a bit slippery out there today as you can see by the number of riders who crashed. Fabien is going well regardless, he’s a second quicker than he was last year after his injury which is great. Both riders say the track is difficult to read, some parts slippery, some parts not. Cal found it difficult to feel the front end, as with other riders, and ended up crashing. Let’s see what happens tomorrow, it’s important he keeps his mind together and just enjoys racing again.”