FIM Supersport World Championship
Losail International Circuit
Doha, Qatar
October 29, 2016
Qualifying Results (all on Pirelli tires):
From Superpole Session Two:
1. Luke STAPLEFORD, UK (Triump DAYTONA 675), 2:01.621
2. Kenan SOFUOGLU, Turkey (Kawasaki ZX-6R), 2:01.680
3. Randy KRUMMENACHER, Switzerland (Kawasaki ZX-6R), 2:01.851
4. Alex BALODOLINI, Italy (MV Agusta F3 675), 2:02.008
5. Kyle SMITH, UK (Honda CBR600RR), 2:02:025
6. Jules CLUZEL, France (MV Agusta F3 675), 2:02.034
7. Zulfahmi KHAIRUDDIN, Malaysia (Kawasaki ZX-6R), 2:02.103
8. Ayrton BADOVINI, Italy (Honda CBR600RR), 2:02.162
9. PJ JACOBSEN, USA (Honda CBR600RR), 2:02.224
10. Christoffer BERGMAN, Switzerland (Honda CBR600RR), 2:02.507
11. Kyle RYDE, UK (Kawasaki ZX-6R), 2:02.834
12. Michael CANDUCCI, Italy (MV Agusta F3 675), 2:03.284
More, from a press release issued by Dorna WSBK Press Office:
WorldSSP: Stapleford Takes Maiden Pole Under the Desert Floodlights in Qatar
The Brit puts Triumph on the front row
Luke Stapleford (Profile Racing) turned his Friday fortunes around to take pole position on Saturday for his first time, after graduating from Tissot-Superpole 1 earlier in the evening. The Brit finished 17th overall on Friday and was able to completely turn things around in the second session to secure the front row start.
Reigning Champion Kenan Sofuoglu (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) qualified in second, while his teammate Randy Krummenacher finished in third, after having also set the fastest pace on Friday. The Swiss rider was the quickest of his rivals for the overall runner-up spot to qualify, giving him the advantage heading into the final race on Sunday.
With track temperatures at a prime 32 degrees at the beginning of the session, WorldSSP riders were able to set their fastest times in Superpole 2. Alex Baldolini (Race Department ATK#25) continued his good pace into Saturday evening and qualified fourth, ahead of last year’s Qatar winner, Kyle Smith (CIA Landlord Insurance Honda) in fifth.
2016 runner-up contender Jules Cluzel (MV Agusta Reparto Corse) qualified in sixth, ahead of Zulfahmi Khairuddin (Orelac Racing VerdNatura) in seventh, who graduated from Superpole 1 earlier in the evening. Ayrton Badovini (GEMAR Balloons – Team Lorini) will be starting Sunday’s race from eighth on the grid, while Honda World Supersport Team’s PJ Jacobsen will have to work hard on Sunday to catch his rivals, after he qualified in ninth.
Christoffer Bergman (CIA Landlord Insurance Honda) finished the Superpole 2 session in tenth, while Kyle Ryde (Schmidt Racing) and Michael Canducci (GRT Racing Team) rounded out the top 12 positions on the grid respectively.
The stars of WorldSSP will be back on track for the ultimate Sunday clash on the 30th of October at 19:15 local time (GMT+3), where Krummenacher, Cluzel and Jacobsen will go wheel to wheel to finish the season in second overall.
Quotes from the top three riders:
1st Place
L.Stapleford (TRIUMPH): “It is something that I never expected. We had a few problems yesterday like I have mentioned a few times before. This morning obviously we knew we had found something. We used a harder tyre and we managed to get in a good rhythm so we knew when we put the soft tyre on for qualifying we could find a bit of pace, but we weren’t certain on even getting into SP2 so to top it off with pole is really unexpected. I want to give a big thank you to the guys. We’ve worked really hard this year, we have had to learn a lot of new circuits so this sets us up well for tomorrow and going into next season.”
2nd Place
K.Sofuoglu (KAWASAKI): “Last year especially I was very fast at this track. This year I can’t say we are really far away, that we made the bike perfect. But I think the bike is on a good level and we are ready.”
3rd Place
R.Krummenacher (KAWASAKI): “It wasn’t actually a really good Superpole lap. I struggled a bit today. We have some more grip but we sort of can’t use it and I’m sure we can use it better. We are on the front row, it is good for the race. I am confident and for sure we can improve for tomorrow. So let’s race!”
More, from a press release issued by Honda:
Jacobsen qualifies on third row for Qatari WorldSSP race
Round 12 – Qatar
Losail International Circuit, Qatar
PJ Jacobsen and the Honda WorldSSP Team have claimed the ninth spot on the grid for the 15-lap, final World Supersport race of the 2016 season at the Losail International Circuit in Qatar, which will get underway tomorrow at 19:15 local time (GMT +3).
After qualifying directly to Superpole 2 courtesy of his fourth place finish in yesterday’s two free practice sessions, the 24-year-old American logged in 2’02.224s on board his Honda CBR600RR machine to take the last slot on row three. Jacobsen and the team will now analyse the data gathered today ahead of the last encounter of the year, which will decide who will take the runner-up spot in the standings.
Patrick Jacobsen 2
9th / 2’02.224
Ninth place on the grid is definitely not a good result for us, especially if we look what our rivals for second place in the standings did today. In terms of lap-times we are all very close, but we need a good start in order not to let the others get away in the early stages. We still have the warm up to try some more things ahead of the race and we will make it count. After all, it’s not over until it’s over!
Pieter Breddels
Technical Manager
We didn’t make too many changes today and PJ’s race pace is good, but we missed a couple of tenths on the single lap and that has pushed us a couple of rows back. Randy (Krummenacher) and Jules (Cluzel) will start ahead of us, so it won’t be an easy race tomorrow. We need a good start in order not to lose touch with the front runners and then we’ll see what happens.
More, from a press release issued by Kawasaki:
Front Row Starts At Season Finale For Sofuoglu And Krummenacher
New FIM Supersport World Champion Kenan Sofuoglu put himself second on the grid after today’s Superpole 2 contest at Losail in Qatar, with his Kawasaki Puccetti Racing team-mate Randy Krummenacher ending his two days of practice third fastest. Randy will start Sunday’s 15-lap race alongside Kenan on the front row.
With Kenan Sofuoglu already crowned champion – for the fifth time – at the previous round he took his Ninja ZX-6R to within 0.059 seconds of another Superpole win in his latest success-laden season this evening.
Randy, who is second in the championship and intends to remain there after Sunday’s race, put himself on the second row after an up and down practice and qualifying period. He had headed free practice by over 0.7 seconds on Friday but also had to work on some set-up issues at other times.
Each Kawasaki Puccetti Racing rider will be out to improve on their already impressive 2016 season statistics on Sunday. Kenan has scored eight podiums through 2016, including six race wins, while Randy – in his first WorldSSP season – has scored one win and two other podiums.
The race, to be held under floodlights at the 5.380km Losail circuit will start at 19.15 (local time) on Sunday 30th October.
Kenan Sofuoglu, stated: “I am happy enough to be on the first row because on day one we had some issues and today we improved the bike set-up a lot. Still, there are some points to improve and now we will make some modifications for the race. We were in a good direction compared to yesterday already. Race pace is good and it just needs to be improved a little more. Winning Superpole was possible today but I lost some time with another rider in the last corner of one lap and then on the next lap I missed a very important corner apex and lost time there. It does not really matter for the race, as a first row start is always the main goal. Superpole we always want to win but I am happy with a front row position here.”
Randy Krummenacher, stated: “I will try to go for the win on Sunday and I think we can improve the bike set-up again for tomorrow. If I had made the perfect lap I could have secured Superpole, even with these issues. We found also yesterday that the limit where we can be happy with is very small. If we go over it we can have some issues. So let’s see for tomorrow. I am sure we can improve for the race after looking at our data tonight.”
Zulfahmi Khairuddin (Orelac Racing VerdNatura Kawasaki) had a strong day and was seventh in Superpole, with Kyle Ryde (Schmidt Racing Kawasaki) 11th. Ondrej Jezek (team GoEleven Kawasaki) was 14th today, his team-mate Christian Gamarino 16th. Nacho Calero (Orelac Racing VerdNatura Kawasaki) placed 19th and young Australian rider Lachlan Epis (Response RE Racing Kawasaki) qualified 22nd.