WSS: Sofuoglu wins as Crutchlow falls

Kenan Sofuoglu was gifted victory in round 12 of the World Supersport Championship at Imola when race leader Cal Crutchlow fell two laps from the finish.

While the HANNspree Ten Kate Honda rider celebrated the victory, Irishman Eugene Laverty grabbed second place and closed the gap to Crutchlow in the championship race to just two points.

Yamaha’s Crutchlow had fought his way to the front having dropped to fifth early on, and inherited the lead midway through the race when Joan Lascorz’s Kawasaki engine spectacularly blew up.

Unbeknown to the Spaniard, he trailed oil all round the circuit before pulling off, causing the race to be red flagged.

At the restart Crutchlow seemed set for a sixth win of the season when he suffered a high speed accident at Aqua Minerale. While he was unhurt in the incident, he couldn’t rejoin the race, thus scoring zero points.

That left Sofuoglu to take the win from Laverty, with Frenchman Fabien Foret completing the podium for Yamaha.

The surprise of the race was Britain’s Chaz Davies who scored a superb fourth place finish on his World Supersport debut with Triumph BE1 Racing. He finished ahead of team-mate Garry McCoy in fifth and Ten Kate Honda’s Andrew Pitt in sixth.

World Supersport Championship results – Round 12, Imola

1. Kenan Sofuoglu TUR HANNspree Ten Kate Honda CBR600RR 18 laps
2. Eugene Laverty IRL Parkalgar Honda CBR600RR +5.372s
3. Fabien Foret FRA Yamaha SSP YZF R6 +6.450s
4. Chaz Davies GBR Triumph BE1 Racing 675 +15.847s
5. Garry McCoy AUS Triumph BE1 Racing 675 +15.944ss
6. Andrew Pitt AUS HANNspree Ten Kate Honda CBR600RR 16.001s
7. Katsuaki Fujiwara JPN Kawasaki Provec ZX-6R +27.097s
8. Anthony West AUS Stiggy Motorsport Honda CBR600RR +27.835s
9. Miguel Praia POR Parkalgar Honda CBR600RR +32.946s
10. Danilo Dell'Omo ITA Kuja RacingHonda CBR600RR +33.315s
11. Michele Pirro ITA Yamaha Lorenzini by Leoni YZF R6 +33.576s
12. Cristiano Migliorati ITA Puccetti Kawasaki ZX-6R +44.958s
13. Olivier Four FRA Intermoto Czech Honda CBR600RR +59.645s
14. Barry Veneman NED George White Honda CBR600RR +1min 06.270s
15. Flavio Gentile ITA Althea Honda CBR600RR +1min 14.735s
16. Arie Vos NED Veidec Racing RES Honda CBR600RR +1min 18.933s
17. Emanuele Russo ITA Holiday Gym Racing Yamaha YZF R6 1min 25.012s

Not classified
Cal Crutchlow GBR Yamaha SSP YZF R6 16 laps
Doni Tata Pradita INA Yamaha YZF R6 11 laps
Joan Lascorz ESP Kawasaki Provec ZX-6R 10 laps
Luca Pedersoli ITA Triumph BE1 Racing 675 8 laps
Massimo Roccoli ITA Intermoto Czech Honda CBR600RR 6 laps
Robert Muresan ROU MS Romania Triumph 675 4 laps
Sam Lowes GBR ECHO CRS Honda CBR600RR 2 laps
Michael Laverty GBR ECHO CRS Honda CBR600RR 1 lap
Mark Aitchison AUS Althea Honda CBR600RR 0 laps
Jesco Gunther GER RES Software Veidec Racing DNS
Robbin Harms DEN Veidec Racing RES Honda CBR600RR DNS
Yannick Guerra ESP Holiday Gym Racing Yamaha YZF R6 DNQ
Glenn Irwin GBR Direct CCTV Racedays Honda CBR600RR DNQ

Championship Standings (after 12 rounds)

1 Cal Crutchlow – 210pts
2 Eugene Laverty – 208
3 Kenan Sofuoglu – 153
4 Joan Lascorz – 138
5 Fabien Foret – 115
6 Anthony West – 104
7 Andrew Pitt – 104
8 Garry McCoy – 82
9 Mark Aitchison – 71
10 Massimo Roccoli – 62

Next race: Round 13, Magny-Cours, 04 October

Watch World Supersport Championship highlights on Motors TV (Sky Channel 413, Virgin Media 545) on Thursday 1 October at 9.05pm (BST).


Andy Wilkinson