Results World Superbike-Supersport, Vallelunga, Italy

2007-09-30 09:58
SOFUOGLU WINS RACE NUMBER SEVEN OF CHAMPIONSHIP SEASON

Kenan Sofuoglu (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda CBR600RR) was the eventual winner of a shortened Supersport race at Vallelunga, called to a halt on lap 17 because of an oil spill that claimed several riders before the race was stopped. Due to the count back of laps in these situations, it was Sofuoglu, not his fellow Honda rider and long-time front-runner Craig Jones (Honda CBR600RR) who was declared the winner at the new-to-SBK circuit near Rome. The 4.110km track was a stiff test for all, with very fast and very
slow sections demanding a well-balanced machine set-up. In race conditions Vallelunga proved to be a playground for Honda riders, and in third place Spanish privateer Joan Lascorz (Honda CBR600RR) scored his first podium in the 600cc division, giving Honda a clean sweep of podium places.

Sebastien Charpentier (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda
CBR600RR) once more dropped through the field
from a potential podium finish, scoring ninth,
while the still-injured Katsuaki Fujiwara (Althea
Honda Team CBR600RR) was a gritty tenth. His
team-mate Lorenzo Alfonsi (Althea Honda Team
CBR600RR) was one of the riders unfortunate to
find the oil spill at the fast entrance to the
Curva Cimini rights before the oil flags came
out, and he was not classified with a finish.

Qualifying in Italy had been headed up by three
Honda riders, with Jones on pole, from Sofuoglu
from Charpentier. Alfonsi was 11th and Fujiwara
worked hard to get to a final tenth place in the
race, from a 14th place on the grid.

In the championship, Sofuoglu leads second place
rider Fabien Foret by a vast 123 points, with
Fujiwara on 93, and still in with a chance of
finishing third - if he can make up 20 points on
Broc Parkes at the final round of the year.
Charpentier is tenth overall, with 51 points,
while Alfonsi is now 14th in the standings, on an
unchanged 45 points. In the Manufacturers'
Championship Honda has a 63 points lead, having
already secured the silverware earlier in the season.

Sofuoglu, who won the championship with three
races to spare, was desperate to win at this race
and he got his wish in the first ever visit of
World Supersport to the Vallelunga track. He
leaves with a new lap record for the 4.110km
circuit, 1'40.231, set on lap six. His seventh
win of the year equals the best-ever record of
victories in one season, set in 2004 by former
Honda Ten Kate rider, Karl Muggeridge.

"Craig had a great start and I had to work hard
to close him down," said Sofuoglu, "I made a
mistake early on and then I sat behind him for a
while in second position and then we had a good
fight before the flag came out. I was pretty
lucky because if the red flag had come out one
lap later Jones would have had the win. I think
the Honda works very well at Vallelunga, and my
team made the bike great today. I really wanted
to win another race at least in Supersport, after
winning the title, and I want to try and get
another one next weekend at Magny-Cours."

Charpentier's weekend ended in disappointment
despite his front row qualifying pace, leaving
him once more unsure why his early lap speed
could not be maintained over race distance.

"Same story as previous races, I'm afraid," said
Charpentier. "No grip after a while and I don't
know why. Then, with maximum lean angle, I
experience a lot of chatter. It will be important
to make a good race in the final round at Magny-Cours next week."

Fujiwara rode the race with a left foot still
injured from a crash in the previous Lausitz
race, and paid the price in pain and overall
fatigue, because his normal fitness regime had
been affected in the run up to Vallelunga.

"It felt like the race was 40 laps," said
Fujiwara. "In the high speed corners things were
not so bad, I could push there, but this track
has an incredibly tight infield, and you have to
hold on a lot because you have to hang off very
far to get round. That was very difficult with my
injured foot, and all my muscles hurt. It was
very hard today, but it was important to finish
in the points and I will never, never give up this year."

Alfonsi was unhappy at losing the chance to score
points at his home round, especially as he had
been pushing in the race, and was up to 11th at one stage.

"There was oil down but no flag," said Alfonsi,
"so I fell at the entrance to the Curva Cimini. I
am OK, not injured in the crash but very beaten
up. I made up some places but I think there was a
problem with the air pressure in the rear tyre,
as I was spinning a lot before the crash anyway."

World Superbike Round 12 of 13

TOSELAND TAKES 29 POINT ADVANTAGE INTO FINAL ROUND NEXT WEEK

Long-term championship leader James Toseland
(Hannspree Ten Kate Honda CBR1000RR) had a
contrasting weekend of results once more, scoring
third after a tough first race and then falling
in race two, remounting to finish a battling
11th. Despite his misfortune he still enters the
final round of the championship with a 29-point
advantage over his nearest rival - now Max
Biaggi, after the Roman rider scored a win and a
second at his home circuit. Troy Bayliss took the
second race win, with Noriyuki Haga, Toseland's
only other championship rival, fourth and then third today.

At the top of the championship standings Toseland
now has 396 points, Biaggi has 367 and Haga 363.
Bayliss, despite his seventh win of the year, is
now finally out of the championship contest, 55
points shy of Toseland, with only a maximum of 50 points remaining.

Biaggi won the first race from pole man Bayliss,
but the battling qualities of Toseland ensured
that the Honda rider would beat his main
championship rival, Noriyuki Haga into fourth.
Roby Rolfo (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda CBR1000RR)
had the misfortune of retiring early when another
rider struck the rear of his machine, broke his
wheel rim and punctured his tyre. The next best
Honda rider behind Toseland was local man Michel
Fabrizio (DFX Corse Honda CBR1000RR), fifth and
good value for it after a less than perfect start.

Karl Muggeridge (Alto Evolution Honda CBR1000RR)
was 13th, his team-mate Yoann Tiberio (Alto
Evolution Honda CBR1000RR) 15th after a good ride
in only his second over SBK race. These two
riders would go on to repeat their race one
fortunes exactly in race two. Luca Morelli (DFX
Corse Honda CBR1000RR) was 16th in the opener, 17th in the second 24-lap race.

The second race went to Bayliss, from Biaggi and
Haga, and the top placed Honda rider was Rolfo,
fifth. Fabrizio was forced to retire, while
Toseland crashed out of fourth place at the
slowest corner of the track - his second fall of
the weekend, after he crashed out of Superpole
and thus started each race from eighth place on the grid.

In the Manufacturers' Championship, Honda leads
by three points, setting up a dramatic finale at Magny-Cours next week.

Toseland was bitterly disappointed to crash in
the second race, but indicated that it was a tough weekend all round.

"I was stronger than most other riders in the
first section in race one and I made the most of
that," said Toseland. "It was hard in fourth
place to be going as fast as possible and still
only fourth until near the end, while losing the
front and the back end. We've gone from a really
dominant and strong position on Saturday to
really struggling today. The guys made a great
job of rebuilding my number one bike after the
Superpole crash and I chose to ride it. This was
my decision and maybe it wasn't the best decision
because we struggled to get the traction control
working. There was no improvement from race one
to race two and race one was bad enough -
definitely the hardest of the season so far.
Having said all that, we've come out of today
with a 29-point advantage. If someone had told me
at the start of the season that that would the
case I'd have been happy with that, so it's not that bad."

Rolfo was disappointed with his race one
misfortune, but knew there was little he could do
about it. He had qualified ninth in Superpole,
and now sits eighth overall in the series, on 177 points.

"Race one was not so good for me," said a
philosophical Rolfo after his third home race of
the year. "I got a good start but I got caught up
in Corser's crash and somebody went into the back
of me. This made a hole in my wheel and I had to
retire. The second race went much better - I
found a good rhythm and kept in the top five for
most of the race. I am going to Magny-Cours with
a good feeling and I'm looking forward to the race."

Fabrizio was in combative form with factory
Ducati rider Lorenzo Lanzi in race one, but in
race two his machine stopped after the battery
was drained by an electrical problem. He is now
tenth in the title chase, after qualifying seventh for his home race.

"The set-up for race one was only 50/50, so we
changed it for race two," said Fabrizio. "We were
going OK then but the bike stopped after a faulty
regular drained the battery. It was good to fight
with and beat Lanzi in race one, and really
enjoyed riding in front of my home crowd."

Muggeridge knew that after failing to qualify in
the top 16 riders that go forward to Superpole by
one place, his job on raceday would be tough, but
he worked his way through well, and now sits 16th overall, on 53 points.

"We were very consistent today but not at a pace
I wanted to be at," said Muggeridge. "We were
spinning a lot because of the lack of electronics
on our bike and at this kind of circuit, you are
dead in the water. I can't make up for that, not
for all 24 laps of each race. I worked hard for
it and we got points both times. We came away in
one piece. We need grip, and some help keeping
it. It will make a big difference."

Morelli, 21st in qualifying, took better fortune in race one than in race two.

"It was good to fight with Tiberio in the
opener," said Morelli, "but not so good in race
two. I heard a loud noise, which I thought came
from my machine, and I looked down to check.
There didn't seem any thing wrong so I carried
on, but by then I had been passed by some other riders."

Tiberio enjoyed the challenge of Magny Cours, and
despite finding it hard work, the Frenchman, who
had qualified only one place behind Muggeridge in
18th, took two single-point scores away to France
in readiness for the final round.

"I think this was a good weekend for me, and I
made good progress in comparison with Lausitz,"
said Tiberio. "I am closer to the times now so
things are coming better, and I'm really enjoying the bike now."

Next week Magny-Cours (7 October) hosts the final
championship races of the year for all classes.


Results

SUPERSPORT:
RACE : (Laps 17 = 69,870 Km)
Pos /Rider /Nat. /Team / Time /Gap
1 / K. SOFUOGLU / TUR / Hannspree Ten Kate Honda / 28'42.956 /
2 / C. JONES / GBR / Revè Ekerold Honda Racing / 28'43.137 / 0.181
3 / J. LASCORZ / ESP / Glaner Motocard.com / 28'48.778 / 5.822
4 / B. PARKES / AUS / Yamaha World SSP Racing / 28'50.019 / 7.063
5 / G.VIZZIELLO / ITA / RG Team / 28'58.368 / 15.412
6 / M.LAGRIVE / FRA / Intermoto Czech / 29'00.202 / 17.246
7 / A. TODE / GER / Stiggy Motorsport Honda / 29'01.018 / 18.062
8 / S. SANNA / ITA / Racing Team Parkalgar / 29'01.521 / 18.565
9 / S. CHARPENTIER / FRA / Hannspree Ten Kate Honda / 29'03.632 / 20.676
10 / K. FUJIWARA / JPN / Althea Honda Team / 29'03.865 / 20.909
11 / G.GOWLAND / GBR / Team Benjan Motoren / 29'07.470 / 24.514
12 / V. KALLIO / FIN / Pioneer Hoegee Suzuki Racing / 29'08.728 / 25.772
13 / S. GIMBERT / FRA / Yamaha - GMT 94 / 29'09.485 / 26.529
14 / F. FORET / FRA / Team Gil Motor Sport / 29'09.599 / 26.643
15 / D. CHECA / ESP / Yamaha - GMT 94 / 29'09.955 / 26.999

Fastest Lap 6° Kenan Sofuoglu 1'40.231 147,619 Km/hh
Lap record: New circuit
Best Lap: 2007 C. Jones 1'39.322 148,970 Km/h

Riders Championship Standings:
1 SOFUOGLU 251, 2 FORET 128, 3 PARKES 113, 4 FUJIWARA 93, 5 ROCCOLI 84,
6 HARMS 83, 7 JONES 78, 8 VENEMAN 70, 9 WEST 66, 10 CHARPENTIER 51,
11 NANNELLI 49, 12 VIZZIELLO 47, 13 LAGRIVE 46, 14 ALFONSI 45, 15 PITT 40.



SUPERBIKE
Race 1 : (Laps 24 = 98,640 Km)
Pos / Rider / Nat. / Team / Time / Gap
1 / M.BIAGGI / ITA / Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra / 39'24.967 /
2 / T. BAYLISS / AUS / Ducati Xerox Team / 39'30.605 / 5.638
3 / J. TOSELAND / GBR / Hannspree Ten Kate Honda / 39'32.419 / 7.452
4 / N.HAGA / JPN / Yamaha Motor Italia / 39'35.046 / 10.079
5 / M.FABRIZIO / ITA / D.F.X. Corse / 39'47.224 / 22.257
6 / L. LANZI / ITA / Ducati Xerox Team / 39'50.629 / 25.662
7 / R. LACONI / FRA / Kawasaki PSG-1 Corse / 39'59.778 / 34.811
8 / F. NIETO / ESP / Kawasaki PSG-1 Corse / 40'03.042 / 38.075
9 / S. NAKATOMI / JPN / Yamaha YZF / 40'04.037 / 39.070
10 / V. IANNUZZO / ITA / Kawasaki PSG-1 Corse / 40'12.669 / 47.702
11 / J. SMRZ / CZE / Team Caracchi Ducati SC / 40'12.773 / 47.806
12 / M.BORCIANI / ITA / Team Sterilgarda / 40'18.455 / 53.488
13 / K. MUGGERIDGE / AUS / Alto Evolution Honda / 40'19.476 / 54.509
14 / S. MARTIN / AUS / Celani Team Suzuki Italia / 40'26.934 / 1'01.967
15 / Y. TIBERIO / FRA / Alto Evolution Honda / 40'33.258 / 1'08.291

Fastest Lap 4° Noriyuki Haga 1'37.419 151,880 Km/hh


Race 2: (Laps 24 = 98,640 Km)
1 / T. BAYLISS / AUS / Ducati Xerox Team / 39'30.861 /
2 / M.BIAGGI / ITA / Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra / 39'32.292 / 1.431
3 / N.HAGA / JPN / Yamaha Motor Italia / 39'35.327 / 4.466
4 / T. CORSER / AUS / Yamaha Motor Italia / 39'44.627 / 13.766
5 / R. ROLFO / ITA / Hannspree Ten Kate Honda / 39'51.709 / 20.848
6 / R. XAUS / ESP / Team Sterilgarda / 39'52.791 / 21.930
7 / L. LANZI / ITA / Ducati Xerox Team / 40'00.708 / 29.847
8 / F. NIETO / ESP / Kawasaki PSG-1 Corse / 40'00.847 / 29.986
9 / S. NAKATOMI / JPN / Yamaha YZF / 40'10.987 / 40.126
10 / M.NEUKIRCHNER / GER / Suzuki Germany / 40'11.594 / 40.733
11 / J. TOSELAND / GBR / Hannspree Ten Kate Honda / 40'13.405 / 42.544
12 / V. IANNUZZO / ITA / Kawasaki PSG-1 Corse / 40'25.365 / 54.504
13 / K. MUGGERIDGE / AUS / Alto Evolution Honda / 40'25.885 / 55.024
14 / S. MARTIN / AUS / Celani Team Suzuki Italia / 40'26.165 / 55.304
15 / Y. TIBERIO / FRA / Alto Evolution Honda / 40'30.642 / 59.781

Fastest Lap 9° Max Biaggi 1'37.727 151,401 Km/h
Lap record: 2007 N. Haga 1'37.419 151,880 Km/h
Best Lap: 2007 T.Bayliss 1'35.890 154,300 Km/h


Riders Championship Standings:
1 TOSELAND 396, 2 BIAGGI 367, 3 HAGA 363, 4 BAYLISS 341, 5 CORSER 267,
6 LANZI 192, 7 XAUS 187, 8 ROLFO 177, 9 NEUKIRCHNER 136, 10 FABRIZIO 123,
11 LACONI 122, 12 KAGAYAMA 116, 13 NIETO 98, 14 SMRZ 66, 15 NAKATOMI 61.



Source: Honda Pro Image

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