Results World Superbike-Supersport, Lausitz, Germany
. By Bikeland Staff
SOFUOGLU SECOND AFTER CLOSE LAUSITZ RACE RESULT
New World Supersport Champion Kenan Sofuoglu (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda CBR600RR) had a close fight with eventual winner Broc Parkes all through the 23-lap Supersport race, finishing second by 1.987 seconds.
Second again in qualifying, Sofuoglu provided great entertainment for the German crowd on a day that dawned blissfully dry, after a wet final qualifying session on Saturday. Sofuoglu also scored a new lap record, on lap six, with a time of 1'41.946s. Sofuoglu's 20 points from Lausitz ensure that Honda has now taken the Manufacturers' Championship, now having an advantage of 51 points over the next closest manufacturer, with two races to go.
Sofuoglu now leads the championship he has
already won by a margin of 100 points, from
Lausitz non-finisher Fabien Foret, as Parkes
moved into third place, on 87 points.
Sebastien Charpentier (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda
CBR600RR) looked set for a podium but reduced
rear tyre traction from five laps into the race
dropped him from the lead at one stage to an
eventual ninth. He was particularly disappointed,
as he had qualified on pole for the second successive meeting.
Katsuaki Fujiwara (Althea Honda Team CBR600RR)
retired from the race on lap ten, and his
teammate Lorenzo Alfonsi (Althea Honda Team CBR600RR) fell on lap 20.
Winning at Lausitz was high on Sofuoglu's list of
priorities, despite his recent championship success.
"For me it was really important to win this race
because I won here last year and also because I
am the champion now, I feel that I should prove
myself by winning," said Kenan. "Broc Parkes was
really strong today and I know that his bike is
good around here. I fought with him for the
entire 23-laps and it was not easy, but there is
only so much you can do without losing the grip
in the rear and in the front. He managed to get
past me and by the final lap I knew there was
nothing more I could do to catch him. Anyway, I
put in 100% here so I know that at Vallelunga and
Magny-Cours I will put in 130% - because I really want to win those races!"
Charpentier was desolate at his misfortune, and
he is now 12th overall, on 44 points.
"After a few laps, about five, my rear grip just
started to go and from then until the end I was
fighting all the way," said Charpentier. "I have
a new gearbox spec coming for Vallelunga because
I feel right now that I am always between gears
in the slower corners, so I hope that can let me
get full confidence and make the most of what is a very good bike."
Fujiwara had some bad luck on race day, when a
crash he experienced on Saturday, in wet
conditions, broke two small bones in is left
ankle. He gallantly attempted to race, as he had
qualified in fourth place on the grid, but after
dropping out of the points his team signalled him
into the box to retire. He lost third place in
the championship due to his DNF, and is now fourth.
"The problem was that my injury was to my left
ankle," said Fujiwara. "That made gear changing
very difficult. The team decided to bring me in
to the pit box when I was no longer in the
points. I also had a injury to my right leg, just
from the impact of the crash, so it was an uncomfortable race for me."
Alfonsi, who had qualified 22nd, was up to 12th
at one point, but after a near collision with
another rider he lost the back end as he tried to
keep the power on, while running just off the
ideal line. He is now 11th overall, with 45 points.
"It was a pity because after losing the final day
of qualifying because of rain I was making real
progress in the race," said Alfonsi. "I almost
touched with Gianluca Nannelli and that meant I
was off line. I tried very hard to recover but
the rear end just came around on me."
World Superbike Round 11 of 13
TOSELAND LOSES SOME GROUND DESPITE STRONG TEAM EFFORT
James Toseland (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda
CBR1000RR) battled as hard at Eurospeedway
Lausitz as he ever has to win races in the 2007
series, but was rewarded with only a ninth and
fourth place finish, and a reduced championship
lead to boot. Despite losing ground to both his
main championship rivals, he still leaves Germany
with a healthy 41-point championship lead.
Noriyuki Haga won the first race and Troy Bayliss the second.
In the championship Toseland now has 375 points,
Haga 334, Max Biaggi 322 and Bayliss 296. In the
Manufacturers' Championship, Honda has a
five-point advantage, with four races and two rounds still to go.
In the first race, second row qualifier Toseland
was in trouble from the start, with a mystery
lack of rear traction throughout, leading to a
reduction of forward push that caused him to drop
from the leading bunch to ninth. He was passed on
the very last lap by Lorenzo Lanzi; finding
himself unable to do anything about it.
Top Honda finisher in race one was thus Roberto
Rolfo (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda CBR1000RR) in
fifth, with next best rider being Karl Muggeridge
(Alto Evolution Honda CBR1000RR) who took tenth
place. Rookie rider in his first SBK race, Yoann
Tiberio (Alto Evolution Honda CBR1000RR) scored one point for finishing 15th.
Michel Fabrizio (DFX Corse Honda CBR1000RR)
crashed and had to pull out of race one while in
a top position, while his teammate Luca Morelli
(DFX Corse Honda CBR1000RR) also failed to finish.
In race two, Toseland was in the leading group at
the start once more but although not able to
compete for the podium places, he fended off the
close attentions of Troy Corser to secure fourth
place, and more valuable points to take into the final rounds.
Rolfo was seventh in race two, Muggeridge again
tenth, with a tiring Fabrizio 13th, and Tiberio
18th. A second technical issue, on lap eight of
the second race, forced Morelli out.
For Toseland the story of his day was clear -
sheer bad luck. The fact that he had to swap to
his second bike to eradicate the mere possibility
there was a problem with his first machine was
not an ideal way to finish a race weekend as important as this one.
"A tough day at the office today," said the
championship leader. "I have worked so hard to
get the advantage I took away from Brands Hatch
that to be riding round in ninth in race one does
not do me or this team justice. The second race
was just normal by comparison, but because things
were so bad with traction in the first race we
had to swap to my spare bike because we didn't
know what was happening with the lack of grip in
race one. We set the second bike the same as the
first one was in race two - and it was two or
more seconds a lap quicker. But the bikes were
the same, so it was nothing mechanical in race
one. If I had a third and a fourth today, which
was more than possible, then I would have left
here without too much of an indentation in my
championship lead. It could have been worse, but
after a double win at Brands Hatch I shouldn't
have been worrying about my lead being cut here."
Rolfo, now eighth in the title chase, was happy
to be as high up as he was in race one, but not
so happy with the result of race two.
"In some points we improved in race two but we
elected to put a lot of fuel in and we lost the
best part of the race," said Roby. "Later on I
was fast and it went better. I feel a lot happier
going fast on the bike than before but we still
have to work, because I want to stay with the
front riders. The start is where we need to
concentrate, because the middle to the end is not a problem at the moment."
Fabrizio was unfortunate to fall in race one, and
it was his fourth crash in a weekend blighted
with rain on day two. In race two, many factors
took their toll on him, and he finished a
depleted 13th. In the series overall he is 12th, on 112 points.
"In race one the bike was good, the tyre too, and
I was making real progress from the start," said
Fabrizio. "But - I think - Corser put his knee
slider on the earth around the inside of a corner
and some dirt went onto the track. As soon as I
reached it I lost the front. It was my fourth
crash and I hurt my face and neck a bit this
time. The bike was not OK, so I was finished in
that race. In race two, after a few laps, the
tyre was worn on my repaired bike and my body was
very tired and painful after the crashes. With
all that, I just hung on there to finish as best I could."
Muggeridge was back on strong form after a recent
test session in Italy and despite the day which
was effectively lost to rain on Saturday, and a
14th place in Superpole, he was happy to be back
in the main mix again. He is 15th in the overall championship after Lausitz.
"My quickshifter broke in race one," said
Muggeridge. "So I had arm pump working the
throttle so hard during gear changes. I improved
my race time by 11 seconds in race two; just what
I thought I had lost in race one. Two top tens is
not too bad. We really have a race bike now, and
this is the first race where I got a top ten and
none of the other riders fell off, so I am happy with that."
Tiberio's first taste of Superbike action was
relatively sweet, and he will be back for more in Italy in two weeks.
"I rode with no real knowledge about a Superbike
race until today but it was OK in the races,"
said the former WSS race winner. "There were so
many things to think about but it was
interesting. And very hard! But I enjoyed the
bike and I have made a good progression through
the weekend. Next race should be exciting."
Morelli was disappointed with is first Lausitz
weekend, as he was forced out of the contest on two occasions.
"I am not happy at all," said Morelli, "because
my bike just stopped twice, at almost the same
point in each race. So now I look to Vallelunga, where I hope for better luck."
The next stop for the WSS and WSB series is a new
venue, Vallelunga, on September 30th, with
Magny-Cours in France forming the final round of
the championship, on November 7.
Results
SUPERSPORT:
RACE : (Laps 23 = 98,095 Km)
Pos /Rider /Nat. /Team / Time /Gap
1 / B. PARKES / AUS / Yamaha World SSP Racing / 39'25.235 /
2 / K. SOFUOGLU / TUR / Hannspree Ten Kate Honda / 39'27.222 / 1.987
3 / M.LAGRIVE / FRA / Intermoto Czech / 39'48.670 / 23.435
4 / C. JONES / GBR / Revè Ekerold Honda Racing / 39'53.147 / 27.912
5 / T. HILL / GBR / Yamaha World SSP Racing / 39'54.325 / 29.09
6 / D. CHECA / ESP / Yamaha - GMT 94 / 39'54.521 / 29.286
7 / M.ROCCOLI / ITA / Yamaha Lorenzini by Leoni / 39'54.534 / 29.299
8 / J. LASCORZ / ESP / Glaner Motocard.com / 39'57.349 / 32.114
9 / S. CHARPENTIER / FRA / Hannspree Ten Kate Honda / 40'04.445 / 39.21
10 / B. VENEMAN / NED / Pioneer Hoegee Suzuki Racing / 40'06.461 / 41.226
11 / G.NANNELLI / ITA / Team Caracchi Ducati SC / 40'06.755 / 41.52
12 / S. GIMBERT / FRA / Yamaha - GMT 94 / 40'07.474 / 42.239
13 / G.VIZZIELLO / ITA / RG Team / 40'09.036 / 43.801
14 / S. SANNA / ITA / Racing Team Parkalgar / 40'18.284 / 53.049
15 / S. NEBEL / GER / Lightspeed Kawasaki Supp. / 40'22.142 / 56.907
Fastest Lap 6° Kenan Sofuoglu 1'41.946 150,609 Km/h
Lap record: 2006 K.Sofuoglu 1'42.090 150,400 Km/h
Best Lap: 2006 K.Curtain 1'41.006 152,010 Km/h