Cluzel Captures World Supersport Pole Position In Australia

Cluzel Captures World Supersport Pole Position In Australia

© 2015, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

FIM Supersport World Championship

Phillip Island, Australia

February 21, 2015

Qualifying Results (all on Pirelli tires):

1. Jules CLUZEL, France (MV Agusta F3 675), 1:33.379

2. Kenan SOFUOGLU, Turkey (Kawasaki ZX-6R), 1:33.521

3. Lorenzo ZANETTI, Italy (MV Agusta F3 675), 1:33.551

4. Gino REA, UK (Honda CBR600RR), 1:33.637

5. Kyle SMITH, UK (Honda CBR600RR), 1:33.977, crash

6. Ratthapark WILAIROT, Thailand (Honda CBR600RR), 1:33.988

7. Lucas MAHIAS, France (Kawasaki ZX-6R), 1:34.307

8. Roberto ROLFO, Italy (Honda CBR600RR), 1:34.332

9. Dominique SCHMITTER, Switzerland (Kawasaki ZX-6R), 1:34.332

10. Riccardo RUSSO, Italy (Honda CBR600RR), 1:34.520

11. Fabio MENGHI, Italy (Yamaha YZF-R6), 1:34.591

12. Aiden WAGNER, Australia (Yamaha YZF-R6), 1:34.702

13. PJ JACOBSEN, USA (Kawasaki ZX-6R), 1:34.705

14. Martin CARDENAS, Colombia (Honda CBR600RR), 1:34.707

15. Marco FACCANI, Italy (Kawasaki ZX-6R), 1:34.752

16. Alex BALDOLINI, Italy (MV Agusta F3 675), 1:34.837

17. Kevin WAHR, Germany (Honda CBR600RR), 1:34.937

18. Glenn SCOTT, Australia (Honda CBR600RR), 1:35.313

19. Christian GAMARINO, Italy (Kawasaki ZX-6R), 1:35.382

20. Alex PHILLIS, Australia (Honda CBR600RR), 1:36.200

More, from a press release issued by Dorna WSBK Press Office:

Cluzel grabs Australian pole after WSS qualifying

Last year’s World Supersport race winner at Phillip Island Jules Cluzel (MV Agusta Reparto Corse) will start from Pole Position in the opening round of the World Supersport championship after posting a lap time in today’s qualifying session of 1.33.379s to grab the number 1 grid spot ahead of former WSS Champion Kenan Sofuoglu (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing), who will line up alongside him on the grid tomorrow.

Cluzel improved on his personal best lap in the closing stages to remain at the head of the time sheets at the end of an unpredictable 45 minutes. Cluzel’s team mate Lorenzo Zanetti will start from 3rd on his MV Agusta Reparto Corse debut.

Former Moto2 rider Gino Rea (CIA Landlords Insurance Honda) returns to the series in a solid 4th ahead of Kyle Smith (Pata Honda WSS Team), the Englishman able to mount a serious attack on the Pole Position despite falling at Siberia Corner with 18 minutes to go. Ratthapark Wilairot (CORE Motorsport Thailand) will complete the second row.

Frenchman Lucas Mahias (Intermoto Kawasaki Ponyexpres) who had been right in the mix during Free Practice will start from 7th after failing to record a time because of an issue with his Kawasaki machine until the final ten minutes. Other WSS rookie Dominic Schmitter (Go Eleven Kawasaki) claimed 9th on his first ride at the iconic Phillip Island circuit and after a heavy crash earlier in the day.

Wildcard rider Aiden Wagner (Oz Wildcard Racing) continues to impress on his WSS debut, the youngster backing up his the top ten result from the tests earlier in the week, ensuring his place on the grid with the 12th fastest time.

More, from a press release issued by Pata Honda:

Smith on second row for Supersport debut

Kyle Smith will start his first World Supersport championship race from the second row of the grid after setting the fifth fastest time in the final qualifying session for tomorrow’s first round of the 2015 season at Phillip Island in Australia.

The 23-year-old British rider continued to make progress with his Pata Honda CBR600RR machine and was well-placed in the qualifying session this afternoon before crashing unhurt on the exit of turn six at the 4.445km Phillip Island circuit.

Smith managed to bring his machine back to the box with enough time remaining in the session for his Pata Honda crew to fix the bike and send him out with 10 minutes remaining on the clock.

He was able to put thoughts of the crash behind him and improve his time but not his position, setting a time of 1m33.977s, 0.5s behind the pole time of French rider Jules Cluzel.

Kyle Smith – P5, 1m33.977s

I’m really, really happy to take a second row start in my first World Supersport qualifying session. I’ve had some pretty good results in the past from the second row but I think this morning actually went better than this afternoon. I pushed a little bit too hard in qualifying and had a crash. I managed to get back on and went a bit better when the guys fixed the bike, but I think I was trying a bit too hard. But, that happens sometimes and all in all I’m feeling really good. We’ve got a little trouble with tyre life which we’ll work on some more tomorrow, but this track has always thrown up tyre problems. I’m quite aggressive on the throttle and like to spin the rear but that really doesn’t help here, so I need to work on that. I’ll try to get a good start and be smooth a nd concentrate on not wearing that tyre out before the end of the race.

Pieter Breddels – technical co-ordinator

Kyle continued with his good pace today and did a good run this morning. We still need to work to get more life out of the tyres, but he did a 33.6 this morning. This afternoon he had a small crash but was OK and did a 33.9 for fifth on the grid. Considering this his is very first weekend at Phillip Island and his first on the World Supersport CBR, I think he’s done a really good job and he can be battling for a podium position tomorrow.

More, from a press release issued by Kawasaki:

Front Row Placing For Sofuoglu At A Hot Phillip Island

Kawasaki Ninja ZX-6R rider Kenan Sofuoglu secured second place on the starting grid for tomorrow’s 18-lap WSS race at Phillip Island, with a lap of 1’33.521. His team-mate Marco Faccani was 15th.

In hot conditions at the 4.445km circuit, and with track temperatures reaching 59°C, Sofuoglu worked hard in the single qualifying session, taking a desired front row starting position and declaring himself ready to race on Sunday. He was only 0.142 seconds from the rider in front.

Lucas Mahias (Kawasaki Intermoto Ponyexpres) was seventh on his Ninja ZX-6R while Switzerland’s Dominic Schmitter (Team Go Eleven Kawasaki) placed ninth on the grid for the first round of the new season.

PJ Jacobsen, Mahias’s team-mate, qualified in 13th place and Faccani was disappointed to be 15th, after some impressive testing performances.

Kenan Sofuoglu: “This is a satisfying qualifying result, on the first row, especially after some issues we had last night and again this morning. We achieved a good lap time and we tried out best. The team worked very hard. Tomorrow’s race should be held in very warm conditions, which will make it a very difficult race for everybody. Of course race day is my day and I think the tyres will be the main point to focus on. If we can manage the tyres well then I think we can win the race.”

Marco Faccani: “We have tried a lot of solutions on the bike to save the tyre but we need to keep working on that. There was not a lot of grip in the heat and I have a lot of chatter entering the corners. We have to choose the best solution for us to finish the race in a good way. Some of the riders in front are faster over one lap but I never had a tow from any other rider; I always rode on my own. Our race pace is good in a long run.”

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