31/05/09 - Sofuoglu and Ten Kate back to winning ways
 |
Kenan Sofuoglu won today’s seventh round World Supersport championship race at Miller Motorsports Park in Salt Lake City, USA. It was the Turkish rider’s second win of the season, following his success in the season opener at Phillip Island Australia.
Starting from sixth place on the grid, Sofuoglu settled quickly into a rhythm behind series leaders Cal Crutchlow and Eugene Laverty before pouncing on the final lap and passing both his championship rivals, with a particularly forceful move past Laverty for the lead.
Sofuoglu’s Hannspree Ten Kate Honda team-mate, Andrew Pitt, started from the back of the grid after a crash yesterday prevented him setting a qualifying time. The Australian demonstrated the positive steps forward made by his crew with the CBR600RR by putting in a stunning performance and finishing in seventh place.
Kenan Souoglu – P1
I am so very happy to be back on the top step of the podium again. Our results have not been so good recently but we made some really big changes to the bike this weekend in America; even in warm-up this morning we were changing the set-up but I knew then that I had a bike that I could win with. Cal and Eugene were really fast today and it was very difficult to catch them after I had finally passed Lascorz. The last lap was really good though – I think I might have touched with Eugene on the way through and you could say it was a hard move. But racing is a hard sport. It was a great feeling to win again and I have to say a really big thank you to the team for working so hard for me.
Andrew Pitt – P7
It’s not a bad result considering where I started, but I made too many mistakes getting past Fabien Foret and found it hard to get consistent lap times. We made some changes to the bike for warm up which worked well, so I really think we have a good direction to go in. I got a good start in the race and found myself on the outside of turn one. But everyone braked early up the inside so I was able to let it run a little longer. I could see the leaders for the first four or five laps which was good, and all in all, it was a pretty good race.
Ronald ten Kate – team manager
What a team, what a day, what a win and what a great rider! We’ve obviously had to dial out a lot of issues recently and then we made some pretty radical changes this weekend, which only started to work during warm-up this morning. In the race, Kenan showed what a great rider he is if we can give him a competitive machine. After all the poor results and hard work recently, this feels like a maiden podium. Really big compliments to Andrew, too, who started from the back row with a really sore head and body after his crash yesterday. To finish seventh just shows what a fighter he is as well. The whole crew has done a fantastic job and they’ve never let go of their confidence, inspiration and belief that we are a winning team. Now we are back on track.
2009 World Supersport championship, round seven – Miller Motorsport Park, Salt Lake City, USA (4.907km, 18 laps) results:
1 Kenan Sofuoglu (TUR) Hannspree Ten Kate Honda 34’00.510s
2 Eugene Laverty (IRL) Honda +0.368s
3 Cal Crtuchlow (GBR) Yamaha +0.521s
4 Joan Lascorz (ESP) Kawasaki +1.833s
7 Andrew Pitt (AUS) Hannspree Ten Kate Honda +25.912s
Championship points after seven of 14 rounds:
Crutchlow 135, Laverty 126, Sofuoglu 108, Pitt 73, Lascorz 73, Anthony West (AUS) Honda 66, Fabien Foret (FRA) Yamaha 55, Mark Aitchison (AUS) 50, Michele Pirro (ITA) Yamaha 48, Garry McCoy (AUS) Triumph 39
Next round: Misano, San Marino – 21 June