Sofuoglu extends championship lead Following an eventful eighth round of the 2007 World Supersport Championship, HANNspree Ten Kate Honda’s Kenan Sofuoglu leaves Misano with his series lead intact. The Turkish rider’s tally now stands at 161 points – 61 points clear of second place rider Fabien Foret. Today’s 22-lap race was split into two halves after a bike blow out at the end of the start/finish straight during lap four caused the contest to be red flagged. The riders re-started the race with 18 laps remaining and the combined times from the two heats determined the final finishing positions. Sofuoglu started the second heat from third on the grid and fought incredibly hard to keep his position in the leading pack. With Anthony West leading, Sofuoglu entered into a battle for second position against Broc Parkes. Although the HANNspree Ten Kate Honda rider eventually won the tussle, Parkes was awarded second place on aggregate with Sofuoglu in third. He picked up 16 valuable points to further extend his championship lead. Team-mate Sébastien Charpentier’s run of bad luck continued as he struggled with the grip on his choice of softer tyre. The Frenchman passed the chequered flag in tenth position on aggregate, however the result sees him collect six all-important points to climb to fifteenth in the overall standings. Ronald ten Kate, Team Manager: “This is another good result for Kenan, especially when you look at the championship standings. It’s a pity that the gap had already been made in the first four laps before the race was red flagged. He was already three seconds behind, which made it very difficult for him to win the race. He did remarkably well in the second half to try to overtake Broc Parkes to take the second position. With Sébastien we made a gamble on the softer tyre and this didn’t work out at all. Luckily, we are testing now at Brno and we can dial his bike in ready for the next race because the position he is in today is clearly not where he should be.” Kenan Sofuoglu: “This was a really tough race. The conditions were so hot and to choose a good set up with the tyres was very difficult. In the second half I was pushing at my limit but the gap was already there from the first four laps and it was impossible for me to make that up. I feel like we had a good set-up and I was making good lap times, but it was just too hard for me here. Anyway, I am leaving with the lead so I am happy with that.” Sébastien Charpentier: “Today has been very difficult. The first half of the race was really bad. I am not completely confident and I lost a lot of time. After the red flag, the second start was ok. We kept the tyres the same and after six or seven laps the grip started to go. It was hard for me to follow the group. Because the grip in the rear was less, I pushed harder in the front and that caused the grip in the front to go as well. I finished the race with no grip at all so there was no possibility of me finishing in a good position. We are testing in Brno soon and I hope it goes well for me because for the moment iit is not easy for me weekend after weekend.” Aggregate race results: 1. A. West 36’47.866 2. B. Parkes + 4.197 3. K. Sofuoglu + 4.340 4. M. Roccoli + 15.123 5. R. Harms + 18.429 6. S. Sanna + 18.741 7. J. Fores + 18.915 8. K. Fujiwara + 25.082 9. G. Vizziello + 30.240 10. S. Charpentier + 31.633 Championship standings: 1 K. Sofuoglu 161 2 F. Foret 100 3 K. Fujiwara 77 4 R. Harms 70 5 A. West 66 6 B. Veneman 50 7 B. Parkes 47 8 M. Roccoli 46 9 G. Nannelli 43 10 A. Pitt 40 15 S. Charpentier 29 More, from a press release issued by Honda: SOFUOGLU EXTENDS CHAMPIONSHIP LEAD WITH MISANO PODIUM Kenan Sofuoglu (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda CBR600RR) rode one of the hardest races of the year in temperatures over 30°c during the two-part WSS race at Misano today. He recorded a hard fought third place finish and extend his overall championship lead to 61 points. Sofuoglu’s closest championship rival Fabien Foret crashed out after a collision on lap four of the first leg, and Sofuoglu’s 16 points for third put him on a total of 161 points to Foret’s unchanged 100. The race was stopped after four laps when a blown engine on a local competitor’s machine dropped oil onto the track. The 18-lap restart saw Sofuoglu fight to the end with Broc Parkes in a dispute over the aggregate second place finish behind winner Anthony West. Sofuoglu had been fourth in qualifying, the top Honda rider pre-race. Katsuaki Fujiwara (Althea Honda Team CBR600RR) finished his day on the ‘reverse direction’ Misano in eighth place, having been as high as third at one point. He had qualified seventh, and given all that went on around him in the Misano race, he scored well to keep his overall third in the championship fight. Reigning Supersport World Champion Sebastien Charpentier (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda CBR600RR) had another tough weekend in WSS, scoring ninth in qualifying, tenth in the race then jumping up to 15th in the championship. Lorenzo Alfonsi (Althea Honda Team CBR600RR) experienced problems with clutch slip towards the end of the race and finished 16th, one place out of the points. Sofuoglu was only mildly disappointed with third, but knows that the championship is the long-term aim. “The conditions were very tough today and to choose a good set-up and tyre combination was very hard,” said the Turkish rider. “After the red flag stopped the first part I was pushing at my limit in the restart, but the problem was still the few seconds I was down from the first leg. That time was impossible to make up. I am still leaving here with a good championship lead, so that is the most important thing.” Fujiwara struggled after being passed at the midpoint of the restarted race, and slid backwards slowly, to take his eighth place finish. “Things were going OK in the beginning,” said Fujiwara. “After a few laps there was a lot of chattering but on the left-hand corners only. Strange and very frustrating, but I kept going to score as many points as I could. I am still third in the standings, which is good considering that we had a complicated race here at Misano.” A crisis of confidence for Charpentier in the first part of the two-part race held back his overall performance and problems later in the second part sealed his ultimate finishing position of tenth. “Today has been very difficult,” said Charpentier. “The first half of the race was really bad. I am not completely confident and I lost a lot of time. After the red flag, the second start was OK. We kept the tyres the same and after six or seven laps the grip started to go. It was hard for me to follow the group. Because the grip in the rear was less, I pushed harder in the front and that caused the grip in the front to go as well. I finished the race with no grip at all so there was no possibility of me finishing in a good position. We are testing in Brno soon and I hope it goes well for me because for the moment it is not easy for me, weekend after weekend.” Alfonsi felt deprived of a points scoring finish, even if he admitted to having a bad start. “I did not have a great start,” said Alfonsi, “but near the end of the race, about lap 15, I was getting a lot of spinning from the clutch, especially on the high speed sections. The revs were going up, but not matched by the speed. It was hard here this weekend, especially on a 2006-specification bike.”