FIM Supersport World Championship
Autodromo Internazionale Enzo e Dino Ferrari, Imola, Italy
April 30, 2016
Qualifying Results (all on Pirelli tires):
From Superpole Session Two:
1. Jules CLUZEL, France (MV Agusta F3 675), 1:51.132
2. Kenan SOFUOGLU, Turkey (Kawasaki ZX-6R), 1:51.321
3. PJ JACOBSEN, USA (Honda CBR600RR), 1:51.535
4. Randy KRUMMENACHER, Switzerland (Kawasaki ZX-6R), 1:51.735
5. Lorenzo ZANETTI, Italy (MV Agusta F3 675), 1:51.901
6. Ayrton BADOVINI, Italy (Honda CBR600RR), 1:51.950
7. Federico CARICASULO, Italy (Honda CBR600RR), 1:52.025
8. Alex BALDOLINI, Italy (MV Agusta F3 675), 1:52.075
9. Gino REA, UK (MV Agusta F3 675), 1:52.089
10. Ondrej JEZEK, Czech Republic (Kawasaki ZX-6R), 1:52.280
11. Z. KHAIRUDDIN, Malaysia (Kawasaki ZX-6R), 1:52.367
12. Alessandro ZACCONE, Italy (Kawasaki ZX-6R), 1:52.451
Others:
37. Braeden ORTT, Canada (Honda CBR600RR), 1:56.696
More, from a press release issued by Dorna WSBK Press Office:
WorldSSP: Cluzel takes pole for MV Agusta at home
Stunning lap sees Frenchman head the timesheets, Sofuoglu P2
After a slight delay to the start of the Tissot-Superpole qualifying sessions for World Supersport after an earlier stoppage in WorldSBK, Roberto Rolfo on his MV Agusta was the initial pacesetter in Superpole 1, leading FIM Europe Supersport cup rider Axel Bassani riding for home team San Carlo Team Italia. Local rider Alex Baldolini, after a good showing of pace on Friday, then took over the final graduation spot to Superpole 2 before the last fast laps of the session saw times tumble and Zulfahmi Khairuddin take the top spot. It was the Malaysian rider who went through to Superpole 2 as the fastest, alongside Alex Baldolini after the Italian improved his lap time to beat Nico Terol and Assen winner Kyle Smith for the final place in the second session.
A further delay due to track conditions saw Superpole 2 delayed a few more minutes, before bikes headed out on track to fight for the grid placements for the Race on Sunday. After Kawasaki Puccetti Racing rider Sofuoglu set the pace for much of the weekend, the Turkish rider continued to top the timesheets throughout the majority of the Superpole 2 session, until MV Agusta Reparto Corse rider Jules Cluzel put in a final push for the front and took provisional pole with little of the session remaining. With Sofuoglu pushed down to second, the Turk was unable to improve and will start the Race from P2. Honda rider PJ Jacobsen locked out the front row in P3 to get his title back on track, and points leader Randy Krummenacher put in an impressive rookie performance to take P4 and head up the second row.
Pole sitter Jules Cluzel’s MV Agusta Reparto Corse Italian teammate Lorenzo Zanetti was the quickest Italian rider, heading Ayrton Badovini, Federico Caricasulo and Alex Baldolini in a great show of Italian talent in the top 10. Assen podium finisher Gino Rea came home in P9 for GRT Racing Team, ahead of Jezek, Khairuddin and ESS rider Alessandro Zaccone for home team San Carlo Team Italia.
The lights go out for the WorldSSP Race on Sunday at 11:20am local time (GMT +2), for another stunning Supersport showdown.
More, from a press release issued by Honda:
Front row start for Jacobsen and the Honda WorldSSP Team in Italy
Round 5 – Italy
Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari, Italy
PJ Jacobsen and the Honda WorldSSP Team will start tomorrow’s fifth-round World Supersport race from the front row of the field, after finishing third in today’s Superpole 2 at Imola’s ‘Autodromo Internazionale Enzo e Dino Ferrari’. Courtesy of this result, Jacobsen maintains his positive string in qualifying: this year the 22-year-old American has so far never started a race lower than fourth on the grid.
Despite the limited track-time available today – 30 overall minutes equally distributed between FP3 and Superpole 2 – Jacobsen was able to further test his own race rhythm, with a good sequence of competitive lap-times put together by last year’s WorldSSP Vice Champion. With virtually no change made to the settings of bike from yesterday, PJ was able to build speed upon speed aboard his Honda CBR600RR and he is now looking forward to the 17-lap race, which will get underway tomorrow at 11:20 local time (GMT +2).
Patrick Jacobsen 2
3rd / 1’51.535
It’s great to be back on the front row! We worked very hard during the weekend and our race pace is really good, so I’m looking forward to the race now. I hope the weather stays as good as today, not just for us but also for the many fans who will come to watch the race. Our goal is obviously to challenge for the podium and the win and if it rains, we’ll deal with it. I struggled here a little bit over the last two years, but I love the track and it’s really a good one to ride with my Honda CBR600RR.
Pieter Breddels
Technical Manager
We spent the whole morning session working further on our race rhythm, to confirm the good indications we had from yesterday. We were again very fast and consistent, virtually matching Sofuoglu and Cluzel’s pace. We left the bike almost untouched from FP2 and this is a very good sign for us. In qualifying, he was able to put together a great lap and the front row is exactly what we needed, given PJ’s ability to make blazing starts in the race. All in all, I think we are ready to race and to fight for honours.
More, from a press release issued by CIA Insurance Honda:
Smith looking for setting solution at Imola
Sat, 30 Apr 2016
CIA Landlord Insurance Honda’s Kyle Smith will start the fifth round of the World Supersport Championship at Imola in Italy from 14th place on the grid following Superpole 1.
Kyle:
“We’ve been struggling all weekend with bike set up, I’ve not been able to get any decent lap times. I’m not happy with 14th on the grid, it’s not where I want to be but we did make a big change and improve the bike for Superpole 1. I am going to look at my riding and the team will look at improving set up again for warm up. Hopefully we can salvage some valuable points tomorrow in the race.”
Although Hikari Okubo qualified 26th, this position doesn’t truly reflect his lap times as he made huge strides, improving by 1.7 seconds, only 1.5 seconds off the pole time.
Christoffer Bergman qualified 30th. He is continuing to adapt his style from STK1000 machines to Supersport and he is becoming happier with his CIA Landlord Insurance Honda CBR600RR.
Stefan Hill again improved his lap time but made another error and crashed again, qualifying in 32nd position.
CIA Landlord Insurance Honda Team Manager, Simon Buckmaster:
“Kyle’s 14th position is not where we want to be but we made a good step to improve the front feel for him with a significant change. The minimal track time of Superpole 1 didn’t allow Kyle to get the best out of the new setting. In places Kyle is trying too hard. We will look at the data to improve set up again and I am still confident that together as a team we can achieve a strong result tomorrow.”
More, from a press release issued by Kawasaki:
First And Second Row Starts For Sofuoglu And Krummenacher
After a busy Superpole 2 session at Imola Kawasaki Puccetti Racing riders Kenan Sofuoglu and Randy Krummenacher placed second and fourth respectively and will now start from strong grid placings close to the top of a field of 37 riders.
On a dry track surface the competition was hot for final start positions for Sunday’s 17-lap race, which will be the fifth of the 2016 season. Sofuoglu was looking to improve his best lap time to take pole but was caught out by when he came around to start his final lap and missed his chance to have his fastest lap count.
Always a rider aiming for a front row start as it puts him in an ideal position for raceday itself, Sofuoglu is already satisfied with his overall pace. He feels ready to push himself to try for his second race win of the season on Sunday.
Similar to Sofuoglu Krummenacher, the championship leader after four rounds, is looking for his second race win of the year. He found a different feel than he expected from his rear tyre in Superpole, however, when he took to the track for one final push for a grid position.
He still put in a good Superpole qualifying time and went fourth on the grid as a result. Randy worked on race pace once he had learned the layout of the complex and undulating Imola circuit, which he rates very highly in terms of its layout. This weekend is his first race experience of Imola.
With changeable weather forecast for Sunday the possibility of a wet race remains, which will mean some sharp and decisive work will be needed to prepare for the 17-lap WorldSSP race. If it is dry both Kawasaki Puccetti Racing riders are confident in their current set-ups allowing them to compete strongly for the podium places.
Kenan Sofuoglu stated: “I expected to get pole position at the end but honestly I made a mistake to stay for a long time on track with the same tyre. I came back to put the second tyre on, to go for a lap time. I did my fastest lap time but it was too late. When the time board went out I had done one lap too many. Anyway, we had a fast pace and we knew we could stay in some very fast lap times. Tomorrow we are hoping for some dry track time. We will see what we get and for me it is not really a big problem if it is a wet race. For sure the most important thing is who gets the 25 points tomorrow.”
Randy Krummenacher stated: “Qualifying for Superpole did not go perfectly. My rear tyres had two different feelings. The same tyre choices, but completely different in feeling so I could not push in the right way, which confused me a bit. Anyway, I felt that even with this problem I could push in every lap. I think my consistency is very good and I am ready to be at the front. I feel confident for tomorrow. Fourth position is OK on the grid and I think at the end it was all good. We have a competitive package and good consistency so I am ready. I never expected this track to be so difficult but I have learned it and I think every lap helps me to do better and better. I love the track, but you have to know it well to be competitive and to push hard.”
Ondrej Jezek (GoEleven Kawasaki), Zulfahmi Khairuddin (Orelac Racing VerdNatura Kawasaki) and Alessandro Zaccone (San Carlo Team Italia Kawasaki) made a running flush of Kawasaki riders from tenth to 12th place on the WorldSSP grid. Axel Bassani (San Carlo Team Italia Kawasaki) was 17th after Superpole and Jezek’s GoEleven team-mate Christian Gamarino was 18th.
More, from a press release issued by GRT Racing:
IMOLA, ITALY – 30/04/2016 ROUND 5 OF THE SUPERSPORT WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
The two qualifying days that precede the first Italian race of the Supersport World Championship have now concluded at the Imola track, with the race scheduled to take place on Sunday 1 May at 11.20am. The GRT Racing Team was out on track with both its riders, Gino Rea and Aiden Wagner. The latter, after being declared unfit to race in Assen after a crash left him with a dislocated right shoulder, was fortunately cleared as fit to compete here at Imola after a medical check-up on Thursday 28 April.
Rea, in seventh place overall after yesterday’s FP1 and FP2, took part in today’s Superpole 2, closing ninth and earning a place on row three of tomorrow’s race grid. Twenty-first for Aiden Wagner who, after the Assen incident, is working hard to get back to full fitness.
Gino Rea: “I’m a little bit frustrated to be on the third row again, but the times are really close between me, and fifth place. I’m not worried for the race; I think we have a good set-up and I think either the soft or harder tyre could work, we just didn’t get the best out of the bike in this session. This morning we had made some changes but we’ll go back to yesterday’s setting as I had more confidence with it and could lap a little more consistently. If the race is dry I’m confident we can be in the front group but we have to just wait and see about the weather.”
Aiden Wagner: “I’m happy with the results achieved so far. We’ve improved though each session, improving both the bike set-up and my riding style. Qualifying was OK, we did our fastest lap of the weekend and that’s a positive, but then on my flying lap I got held up after sector 3 and so it could have been even better. Anyway, I thank the team for their hard work so far.”
Technical Director Mirko Giansanti: “I’m pleased with the results achieved by both our riders. Gino Rea was on track to take second place in yesterday’s FP2 but then a crash just before the end of the session meant he was unable to improve. I know that Rea will fight with the leading group during tomorrow’s race as his times are really very close to those at the front of the grid. Aiden Wagner is recovering well and doing great work in terms of his riding style. We’re confident ahead of the race.”
More, from a press release issued by MV Agusta:
CLUZEL WON THE SUPERPOLE AT IMOLA FOR TEAM MV AGUSTA REPARTO CORSE // CLUZEL IN POLE POSITION AD IMOLA PER IL TEAM MV AGUSTA REPARTO CORSE
30 APRIL 2016
It was a challenging but rewarding day for MV Agusta Reparto Corse in Imola, with Jules Cluzel getting the second WorldSSP pole position after only five rounds.
Cluzel and Zanetti will start from the 1° and 2° row on the grid the 5° Round of the WorldSSP Championship, after and intense qualifying session that saw the rider close in 1° and 5° position respectively the Tissot-Superpole2.
In morning FP3 Cluzel showed and impressive pace, getting the second place of the time sheet, behind the turkish Kenan Sofuoglu. During the 15 minutes of the Tissot-Superpole2 the tenacious Frenchman rode an impressive lap, thanks to the great feeling he had with his MV Agusta F3 675, winning the second pole of this season.
Good performance for Lorenzo Zanetti as well, who proved to be the fastest among the Italian riders on the track. The rider from Lumezzane manages to qualify in 5th position on grid and he is now ready to race at his best the Motul Italian Round tomorrow.
With the Cluzel’s pole position ends this day of qualifying for Team MV Agusta Reparto Corse, with technicians and riders immediately at work again to analyze the data and make the latest changes for the race tomorrow.
Jules Cluzel #16 – I am very happy for this pole, it was a very good session and it marks the good work we are doing with the team. I hope we can make a step forward tomorrow because I think we still have something to improve. Tomorrow the weather could change again but we are focused and we will do our best as always.
Lorenzo Zanetti #87 – We are struggling a bit compared to our standard but I have nothing to blame since we managed to stay with the top rider today. We tried a new engine and every time you make a change, it takes time to find the best setting. Tomorrow I will try to do my best to stay on the top of the race and I am pretty confident we can show something good.