Preview World Superbike-Supersport, Magny Course, France

2007-10-04 07:28
SOFUOGLU OUT TO MAKE YET MORE HISTORY

Kenan Sofuoglu (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda CBR600RR) is aiming for nothing less than burning his name into the record books this weekend at the final round of the World Supersport Championship. He has already scored a record-equalling seven race victories in 2007, and has won the title by a record margin, but at the 4.411km Magny-Cours circuit he will be going for an unprecedented eighth win in a single year. Of the 27 races Sofuoglu has started to date in his relatively short WSS career, he has won nine and scored a total of 18 podiums, all on Honda
machinery. His championship lead of 123 points is
easily a record for the class, and may even be extended again after the final WSS race of the year.

Sofuoglu has also helped Honda win the
Manufacturers' Championship, and Honda has now
provided machinery for the last six Riders' World
Champions, all of whom came from the Ten Kate
Honda stable. The roll of honour runs from Fabien
Foret (2002), Chris Vermeulen (2003), Karl
Muggeridge (2004), Sebastien Charpentier (2005
and 2006) to 23-year-old Sofuoglu.

This year Sebastien Charpentier (Hannspree Ten
Kate Honda CBR600RR) has not reached the peaks
that brought him his two titles in the recent
past, but having set pole two pole position in
the last three races, he is still a threat to any
rider with ideas of victory at 'Seb's' home track on Sunday.

Katsuaki Fujiwara (Althea Honda Team CBR600RR) is
still suffering from the left foot and ankle
injury he sustained recently, but bravely fought
to tenth at Vallelunga. He intends to defend his
overall fourth place in the championship this
weekend. His season has been blighted by injury
and misfortune, often caused by other riders'
interventions, but he is still nine points from
the threat of fifth place rider, Massimo Roccoli.

Lorenzo Alfonsi (Althea Honda Team CBR600RR) is
locked in a cutthroat fight for the last place
inside the top ten, and despite being 14th in the
rankings; he is only six points from tenth position.

Sofuoglu's feelings about the forthcoming race
can be summed up by the fact that his previous
ambition of scoring another win, after securing
the championship at Brands Hatch, has now been
modified to include winning a record making eighth race this weekend.

"After winning the race at Vallelunga I cannot
wait to get to Magny Cours," said Sofuoglu. "I
now have seven victories and I am so determined
to get the last win of the season. I want to set
the record of securing the most wins before I
leave the series. I am so happy that I have been
able to secure a sixth World Supersport
Championship win for Ten Kate and Honda. I owe a
lot to the team and to Honda. I have to give big
thanks to all of the guys for their support and
hard work this year. Now I just have to give them
the final gift of an eighth race win this weekend."

History man Charpentier's season has not been
anything like he imagined it could be, especially
after he became the first rider to win two World
Championships in the 600cc class. But at
Magny-Cours, his love for the track and his home
support may be the key to his first podium of the year.

"For sure, this season has been one of the most
difficult of my career," said Charpentier. "It
started badly with the injury at Donington and I
haven't been able to pick it up. I have had some
great results in qualifying and the team has been
working incredibly hard to help me. I just hope
that I can give them a good result this weekend.
I love Magny Cours - it's my home circuit and I
have done well there in the past, so let's see what happens on Sunday."

Fujiwara wants to make sure that he keeps his
fourth place in the rankings, and his fighting
qualities shine through in his unwillingness to
admit that he cannot win the race and thus regain third in the series.

"I will be much better for the Magny-Cours race,"
said 'Kats'. "I have a lot to do to try and get
back to third place in the championship but until
the last race, last lap, last corner, I will be
trying my best. I like Magny-Cours, it is a good
track for me, and my injury will be better by
then, as I can now do more exercise."

Alfonsi fell from a points scoring position at
the previous race in Vallelunga but is determined
to get back into contention for tenth this weekend.

"I'm really annoyed about the crash at Vallelunga
because it was the spilled oil and not me that
caused it," said Alfonsi. "So at the final round
I will only be thinking of making back absolutely
as many points as possible. I want to sign-off 2007 on a high note."

World Superbike Round 13 of 13

TOSELAND READY, WILLING AND ABLE TO MAKE IT TITLE NUMBER TWO

Despite losing ground in the championship chase
for two races in succession, James Toseland
(Hannspree Ten Kate Honda CBR1000RR) enters the
final round of the series with a more than
healthy 29-point lead, and the best haul of 2008
race wins, an impressive eight. The competition
for wins in 2007 has been immense and three
riders are still in the hunt for ultimate glory.

Toseland's Magny-Cours weekend demands that he
must be fast and clever to win the title, but he
knows all about winning at the final race of the
year at the Magny-Cours circuit. In 2004 Toseland
won the last race to take the crown, despite a
points deficit to the championship leader in the
build up to the finale. This time around it is
the other riders under pressure to perform, with
Toseland needing only to outscore his rivals to
win Honda's first Rider's championship since
2002. Toseland currently has 396 points; Max
Biaggi has 367 and Noriyuki Haga 363. All other
riders are out of the running for ultimate honours now.

In the Manufacturers' championship things could
hardly be closer, with Honda ahead by only three
points after 23 individual races. (It should be
24, but race two at Silverstone was cancelled
because of torrential rain). Such has been the
quality of the battles at the front this year
that four manufacturers are still in with an
arithmetical chance of the championship win itself.

Roberto Rolfo (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda
CBR1000RR) is now well capable of improving on
his current eighth place in the championship, but
what the ever-improving rider from Turin wants
most of all is to score a podium before the
season is out. He has 177 points now, five down
on Ruben Xaus and 15 down on Lorenzo Lanzi - with
50 points available to any rider who can win both races on Sunday.

Michel Fabrizio (DFX Corse Honda CBR1000RR) has
already stepped on a podium this season, at Brno,
but has been unable to find the consistency in
man or machine set-up to allow him to match the
likes of Toseland and Rolfo. He is tenth, on 123 points.

Karl Muggeridge (Alto Evolution Honda CBR1000RR)
has not had an easy season in any way but at
Magny-Cours, his season best in any individual
2007 race - ninth - may well be under threat on improving machinery.

Yoann Tiberio (Alto Evolution Honda CBR1000RR)
makes his third appearance in SBK racing for his
Honda team, and a special one at that, as he will
be running in front of his home fans.

Luca Morelli (DFX Corse Honda CBR1000RR) just
missed points at the previous round in
Vallelunga, and will thus be desperate to score
more, to move from nine points in total to double digits.

Toseland acknowledges that the last few meetings
have been anything but normal for a year in which
he has been the clear top rider, but he is now
out to make the arithmetic of the championship
irrelevant when he gets to France.

"This has been one of the most up and down
rollercoaster rides of a championship that I've
ever competed in," said Toseland. "The pace at
the front of World Superbike this year has been
incredible and it's been a pleasure racing
against the two Troys, Nori, Max and the rest of
the field. The racing has been fantastic, but I
fly on Wednesday to France with only one
intention - to win my second World Superbike
Championship in Magny-Cours, where I secured the title in 2004."

Rolfo has necessarily more humble ambitions, but
nonetheless just as fervently held ones as team-mate Toseland.

"I have enjoyed this season and the CBR1000RR has
definitely improved my riding style," said Rolfo.
"I like Magny-Cours and my results there last
year were OK. I hope I can do well to make up for
race one in Vallelunga when a burst tyre forced
me out. Race two went a lot better and I had a
good feeling on the bike so I want to continue
this in France and end the season strongly - and
I really want to score my first podium."

Fabrizio is looking to ensure he ends the season in the top ten.

"Two good races will be vital for me in France,"
said the 2003 European Superstock Champion. "My
aim will be the podium, I just have to work as
well as I can in qualifying and get a good grid
position. The first corners at Magny-Cours can be
very difficult, but the track itself is OK for me."

Muggeridge is ready to make 2007 a memory by
securing impressive finishes in the last two
races, and hopes the track will be kinder to his
machine's electronics package than Vallelunga was.

"Magny-Cours should be good for us this year,
better than Vallelunga for sure," said
Muggeridge. "We paid for our lack of electronics
on the bike there but it should be less of an
issue in the next race. Magny-Cours is OK, not
the best track we go to but it has some good
points. After all the dramas of the season, I want to post two good finishes."

Morelli was an SBK rookie before joining the DFX
squad mid-season. Since then he has proved
capable of points scores, and now looks to France to secure more.

"It would be a dream to secure points in both the
last two races," said Morelli. "It would be great
to score over ten points all in, because this has
been a tough year. I have learned a lot from the
team in a short time and I hope to put it all
into action in the last two races."

Tiberio hopes a home track will bring him luck,
and despite his relative inexperience his team
have praised his approach in stepping-up to SBK
racing, adding to his positive outlook for a high-pressure race.

"I am taking a lot of confidence into the final
race of the year," said Tiberio. "It is my home
track and I know it well, so I think I can make a
good result. To score points in the last two
races is a good thing to think of when I get to Magny-Cours."

Sunday's races take place at 12.00 and 15.30 CET,
and the next stops for the top competitors will
be the official test in Qatar, 25 to 27 November.

Source: Honda Pro Image

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