Results World Superbike-Supersport, Vallelunga, Italy2007-09-30 09:58SOFUOGLU 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 Click here to visit our forums to discuss this story |
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