FIM Supersport World Championship

Phillip Island, Australia

February 22, 2015

Race Results (all on Pirelli tires):

1. Jules CLUZEL, France (MV Agusta F3 675), 18 laps, 28:19.638

2. Lorenzo ZANETTI, Italy (MV Agusta F3 675), -3.494 seconds

3. Gino REA, UK (Honda CBR600RR), -8.636

4. Kyle SMITH, UK (Honda CBR600RR), -8.668

5. Ratthapark WILAIROT, Thailand (Honda CBR600RR), -10.613

6. Kenan SOFUOGLU, Turkey (Kawasaki ZX-6R), -18.608, ran off track

7. Alex BALDOLINI, Italy (MV Agusta F3 675), -18.701

8. Roberto ROLFO, Italy (Honda CBR600RR), -18.741

9. Dominique SCHMITTER, Switzerland (Kawasaki ZX-6R), -21.333

10. PJ JACOBSEN, USA (Kawasaki ZX-6R), -26.448

11. Christian GAMARINO, Italy (Kawasaki ZX-6R), -26.979

12. Marco FACCANI, Italy (Kawasaki ZX-6R), -26.992

13. Aiden WAGNER, Australia (Yamaha YZF-R6), -34.058

14. Glenn SCOTT, Australia (Honda CBR600RR), -36.066 

15. Fabio MENGHI, Italy (Yamaha YZF-R6), -36.624

16. Kevin WAHR, Germany (Honda CBR600RR), -37.284

17. Alex PHILLIS, Australia (Honda CBR600RR), -42.091

18. Kiernan CLARKE, UK (Honda CBR600RR), -67.842

19. M. RAMIREZ, Spain (Kawasaki ZX-6R), -67.976

20. Riccardo RUSSO, Italy (Honda CBR600RR), -3 laps, DNF, retired

21. Martin CARDENAS, Colombia (Honda CBR600RR), -4 laps, DNF, retired

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

Cluzel wins season opening race for second year in a row

After an 18 lap World Supersport opener, Jules Cluzel (MV Agusta Reparto Corse) came out victorious ahead of his new team mate Lorenzo Zanetti, with WSS returnee Gino Rea (CIA Landlords Insurance Honda) joining him on the first podium of the year.

The leading duo were involved in a fight in the early laps before gradually breaking away from the 3rd place fight involving Rea, supersport rookie Kyle Smith (Pata Honda WSS Team) and Ratthapark Wilairot (CORE Motorsport Thailand) who completed the top 5 in that order.

For Cluzel it was the second year in succession that he has tasted the winner’s champagne in Australia after winning the shortened opening race 12 months ago.

Former champion Kenan Sofuoglu’s challenge for the win ended at the start of lap 6, the Turk running off track at speed at turn one aboard his Kawasaki Puccetti Racing machine. He was able to rejoin finishing 6th at the flag after setting the fastest lap of the race on lap 7.

Dominic Schmitter (Team Go Eleven Kawasaki) finished grabbed a top ten finish 9th on his WSS debut ahead of local wildcard Aiden Wagner who raced his Oz Wildcard Racing Yamaha to a very credible 13th.

Glenn Scott (AARK Racing Honda) followed his compatriot home in 14th place.

Lucas Mahias (Intermoto Kawasaki Ponyexpress) was disappointed to retire to the pits four laps from the end after making a claim for the podium in the first half of the race.

More, from a press release issued by CIA Landlord Insurance Honda:

GINO PUTS IT ON THE PODIUM IN WSS RETURN

Sun, 22 Feb 2015

CIA LANDLORDS INSURANCE HONDA’S Gino Rea took a superb third place podium finish on his return to World Supersport racing at Phillip Island in Australia.

The Londoner was always in contention for the final podium spot and he came out on top in a thrilling last lap battle for third.

Gino said: “In hospital on Tuesday after my foot operation I was not expecting to get on the podium in the first race. I knew we had the potential though.

“I managed my tyre at the beginning, maybe too much as I had pace left at the end. Once the tyre dropped off I tried for the podium. Racing with Kyle it was not easy but it was a good race.

“After a few difficult seasons, it is great to be where I think I deserve to be. The CIA Landlords Insurance Honda package is great and hopefully we can start winning races soon. Friday was my first real test on the bike and we did not get too excited. We have got a good bike and thanks to everyone in the team for getting me on the podium.”

Martin Cardenas and Riccardo Russo both pulled out with tyre problems while in strong points scoring positions. Kieran Clarke finished his first competitive race in three years.

The second round of the World Supersport Championship is at the Chang circuit in Thailand on 22nd March.

CIA Landlords Insurance Honda Team Manager Simon Buckmaster said: “That was a brilliant race by Gino considering he had a screw taken out of his right foot on Tuesday and is not 100 per cent fit. I think the whole CIA Landlords Insurance Honda team did a great job and it gives us great confidence for the next round in Thailand.

“Martin and Ricky both had to pull in because of tyre problems. It is a shame as they were both on for good points scoring finishes.

“It was good for Kieran to get a long race under his belt on his comeback to competition. He will go from strength to strength from here.”

More, from a press release issued by Pata Honda:

Smith just 0.032s from debut podium

Pata Honda rider Kyle Smith missed out on a World Supersport championship podium on his debut by 0.032s in the opening race of the 2015 series at Phillip Island in Australia this afternoon.

The race was won by Jules Cluzel after 23-year-old Smith ran a controlled first part of the 18-lap race around the 4.445km Phillip Island circuit, in which he was in contention for the podium throughout.

The Huddersfield ace had saved enough rear tyre on his Honda CBR600RR for the end of the race to enjoy a great scrap with fellow-Briton and fellow-Honda rider Gino Rea, who just pipped him at the line. The duo will renew their rivalry at the Chang International Circuit in Buriram, Thailand in four weeks time.

Kyle Smith – P4

I had a really good start and paced myself early on to look after the tyre. A couple of riders passed me but I knew that I had better race pace than them so I wasn’t too worried. I held on and tried to keep with the leading group and, as the race unfolded, a couple of people dropped off, which I was expecting. Cluzel and Zanetti pulled away a bit because they’ve had better tyre life than everyone all weekend. But I think that’s just this track and hopefully at the next few circuits we’ll be a little closer to them. Then it was just the two Brits battling it out until the last lap. And he beat me. There’s not much I can say about that, except that I’ll try to make sure it doesn’t happen again. There’s nothing like standing on that box after a full weekend of work. But, not o nly was it the other Brit, not only the other Honda, but it was three hundredths of a second. But I’m not going to cry about it, because it’s game on!

Pieter Breddels – technical co-ordinator

We briefed Kyle not to go crazy in the first few laps and he followed the plan really well. He got a good start and wanted to settle behind Sofuoglu to save his tyres a bit but Kenan ran off the track and some other guys passed him and picked up the pace. Kyle went with them and in the last few laps he had a great fight with Gino Rea. Unfortunately he missed out on a podium spot by a few thousandths of a second, but fourth place is still a really good job in your first World Supersport race. Of course when you’re that close, you want the podium; but there are a lot more races to come, so this is a very good job for starters.

More, from a press release issued by Kawasaki:

Sofuoglu Sixth After Great Recovery

Kenan Sofuoglu (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) was on course for a podium until he was run off track into turn one on lap six, dropping to 19th place before fighting his way back to a top six finish finish. His young team-mate Marco Faccani made a good start to his season but still felt he could have improved on his eventual 12th place.

The 4.445km Phillip Island circuit in Australia is always a tough test for tyre duration and that meant that Sofuoglu made a measured start to his race, but he found himself in the mix with some less experienced riders. He was eventually run wide, right across the runoff and gravel at turn one and had to re-join way down the field.

Using all his experience and pace the Turkish star battled back to take sixth at the flag and gain ten championship points.

Faccani was concerned pre-race about tyre life but a good raceday set-up did not compromise his final performance. He felt he had made a couple of small errors on his first visit to this tricky circuit but also scored good point for 12th place.

Team Go Eleven Kawasaki riders Dominic Schmitter and Christian Gamarino placed ninth and 11th respectively, straddling the Kawasaki Intermoto Ponyexpres Ninja ZX-6R of PJ Jacobsen in tenth. Lucas Mahias (Kawasaki Intermoto Ponyexpres) did not finish the 18-lap race after entering the pits to retire.

The next round will take place in Thailand, in one month’s time, at the Chang International Circuit for the first time ever.

Kenan Sofuoglu: “It was very difficult because our pace was good and I think only Cluzel could ride at the same pace as me. I could not push in the beginning because I would not be able to complete the race because my tyres would be finished too early. So I had to save my tyre for the first four or five laps. There were other riders, who are not fast riders, who feel this is a big chance to stay with the front guys. They tried many crazy attacks and I tried to manage it with them but one rider pushed me out of the track. I had to manage some points after this and I was able to make sixth place. OK, this is better than zero points, but I cannot say I am happy with a result like this.”

Marco Faccani: “Not so bad today and my rear tyre was OK. I am happy about that because yesterday we did not know if we could finish the race well. I lost two positions at the end of the race. I tried to get into the slipstream of one rider on the finish straight, to get one place back again, but I finished so close behind him. Early in the race I made a mistake on the second lap or I could have finished two or three positions higher up than I did.”

More, from a press release issued by MV Agusta:

MV TAKES AUSTRALIA BY STORM

Jules Cluzel and Lorenzo Zanetti take the first one-two for the MV Agusta F3.

Leon Camier seventh in World SBK with the débutante MV Agusta F4 RC.

Phillip Island (Australia), 22 February 2014 –

The Team Reparto Corse MV Agusta’s 2015 season began with a legendary one-two finish in World SuperSport. Not since 1973 (Imatra-GP in Finland – 1st Agostini, 2nd Phil Read ndr) had the manufacturer from Varese achieved a similar result to put in its trophy case. Jules Cluzel won a race that he dominated from the second turn when, in the braking section before the southern loop, he got the better of Kenan Sofuoglu on his Kawasaki who had taken the lead at the start from the second spot on the grid. From that point on the Frenchman was all alone until the chequered flag, demonstrating his clear and undisputed superiority.

Things were a bit more complicated for Lorenzo Zanetti, starting from the third spot on the grid. The rider from Lumezzane, after dropping five positions at the start, began a furious comeback. In the third lap he moved back into fourth place and in the next lap he set his sites on Kyle Smith’s Honda, overtaking him on the inside at turn 9 (Lukey Heights). In the fifth lap he repeated the move on Gino Rea, thereby eliminating the last four-cylinder ahead of him.

Lorenzo continued to push his MV Agusta F3 hard, repeating the time of 1’33’588 he had put on the sheets during qualifying and coming to within one second of his team mate by the tenth lap. The Frenchman responded immediately, pushing hard again until his time dropped to 1’33.684 in the fifteenth lap. The order remained the same all the way to the chequered flag with Cluzel repeating his 2014 performance, Zanetti coming in second 3”84 behind him and Rea and Smith riding their Hondas across the line 8”63 later. This is a gap that shows the difference in performance between the bikes built in Schiranna and those of the rivals.

Jules Cluzel #16: The Frenchman completely dominated during the Australian weekend, consistently faster from the first tests and pole position winner (1’33”305): “I knew I was fast and I pushed hard from the start to try and pull the pin with my pace. I’m pleased that I was able to repeat last year’s win and now I am thinking about winning the title.

Lorenzo Zanetti #87: “I pushed to the limit and I am very happy about the result. Going any further was out of the question because there was nothing left in the tyres. I’d like to thank the entire Racing Department. They put me on an excellent bike from every point of view.”

In Superbike English rider Leon Camier improved consistently throughout the weekend. Qualifying with the 14th best time, he battled and wore down the resistance of Bayliss, Baiocco and De Puniet, finishing Race 1 in tenth place. As proof of his perfect race strategy, Camier put his best time on the sheets, 1’32”99, in the last lap.

In Race 2 he jumped up another two positions, getting the better of Ramos and Baiocco in the finale and crossing the line in eighth place, also improving his lap time: 1’32”866.

The WSBK Reparto Corse team will return to Italy with a bounty of 14 championship points which put them in seventh place for the overall standings, an excellent start for the débutante MV Agusta F4 RC.

Leon Camier #87: “I tried to be as smooth as possible, looking after the tyres and saving them for the end and it turned out well. I’m quite pleased because the F4 RC responds well to the adjustments and that’s why were able to improve and bring home this big little result: coming in firmly in the top-ten”. A big thank you to my team as well. They did a really great job.”

The CEO Giovanni Castiglioni was not at Phillip Island but he followed the team’s success live and had this to say: “This is a day to remember. We knew we were competitive in WSS, after all last year Jules won with the F3 and this year he repeated the performance in an even more authoritative way, supported by a very skilful Zanetti. In WSBK Leon showed his skill managing the potential of a bike, the F4 RC, making its début on the track. Starting off in seventh place in the top class at the end of the first round can only give us high hopes for the rest of the season.”