sunday 28 june 2009 19:06
>> Sofuoglu battles to fourth in Donington Supersport
Hannspree Ten Kate Honda’s Kenan Sofuoglu finished fourth in today’s ninth round World Supersport championship race at Donington Park in the UK. Britain’s Cal Crutchlow took his fourth win of the season after 22 laps of the 4.023km Donington circuit, while Sofuoglu’s team-mate, Andrew Pitt, was tenth.
It was far from an easy race for Sofuoglu, who led briefly on the opening lap. Along with Pitt, the Turkish rider has had to evaluate further the team’s new suspension alongside changeable weather conditions and the peculiarities of the Donington circuit.
Before the next round at Brno in the Czech Republic, the Hannspree Ten Kate Honda team will test at Imola in Italy on 15-16 July.
Kenan Sofuoglu – P4
I am so disappointed with the result today. I knew we had a grip problem because when I close the throttle into the corner, the rear feels out of control. There was no grip on the entry or on the exit and the bike was sideways everywhere. On the downshift it felt like a standard road bike. I know the team has worked very hard and I hope we can find something at the test to use for the rest of the season.Andrew Pitt – P10
That’s about the best we could have reasonably hoped for after the problems we’ve had here this weekend. I had the same problems as during qualifying, with the rear trying to overtake me into corners and then breaking away on the exit. On top of all that, the rear tyre spun right round the rim during the race. Not great, but at least we’ve got a couple of days testing before the next round to try and get a good base setting with this new suspension.Ronald ten Kate – team manager
I guess the results reflect the problems we had during qualifying and there’s not much more to say about it than that! We have a test at Imola to try out a lot of new parts that should put us in a better position than the one we find ourselves in today, which is quite difficult.2009 World Supersport championship, round nine – Donington Park, UK (4.023km, 22 laps) results:
1 Cal Crtuchlow (GBR) Yamaha 34’15.876s
2 Joan Lascorz (ESP) Kawasaki +5.391s
3 Garry McCoy (AUS) Triumph +14.918s
4 Kenan Sofuoglu (TUR) Hannspree Ten Kate Honda +22.248s
5 Eugene Laverty (IRL) Honda +37.054s
10 Andrew Pitt (AUS) Hannspree Ten Kate Honda +47.422s
Championship points after nine of 14 rounds:
Crutchlow 185, Laverty 157, Sofuoglu101, Lascorz 106, Pitt (AUS) Hannspree Ten Kate 79, Anthony West (AUS) Honda 75, Mark Aitchison (AUS) Honda 61, McCoy 55, Michele Pirro (ITA) Yamaha 49
Next round: Brno, Czech Republic – 26 July