WSSP Great Britain: Mahias and Cluzel put on a show behind Sofuoglu

Interrupted in its third lap due to a competitor’s engine failure, the Supersport race at Donington Park was reduced to 13 laps … which Kenan Sofuoglu flew over on his Kawasaki ! Fortunately, Mahias and Cluzel fought to the end for second place.

Departure : Kenan Sofuoglu took off perfectly from his pole position but Luke Stapleford passed the "Number One" of the category in Redgate! The Turkish rider and his Kawasaki still come out in front of the stage room and his Triumph who are immediately attacked and overtaken by Cluzel and his Honda in Craner Curves !

Lucas Mahias and his factory Yamaha occupy fourth place but have to fight hard against Jack Kennedy on the second Triumph which is rolling – very hard – at home. The Irishman passes our championship leader in Melbourne Hairpin at the end of the 1st round…

Mahias responded at the very start of the 2nd lap by sliding his R6 # 144 under the Daytona # 14. Kyle Smith, Patrick Jacobsen – who wears the helmet of his compatriot Nicky Hayden -, Christian Gamarino, Hikari Okubo and Federico Caricasulo complete the Top 10.

Kenan sets a strong pace at the start of the race: Cluzel gives him three tenths of a second in the 2nd loop. Luke Stapelford is in the rhythm of French n ° 16 … Not fast enough to counter the return of our n ° 144 who turns as fast as the leader !

"Julo" accelerates in the 3rd lap and finds the suction of the ZX-6R n ° 1. Unfortunately for Cluzel, the red flags are out: Xavier Cardelus Garcia’s MV Agusta has died and released a quantity of oil at the entrance of the last pin. The commissioners will have to clean it up !

The intervention requires around twenty minutes, so that in order to respect the WorldSBK schedule (Superstock 1000 race then second Superbike race), the Supersport race is reduced from 20 laps to only 13.

The order of the drivers on the starting grid is the same as for the first start: Sofuoglu starts ahead of Mahias and Cluzel. Victim of a mechanical problem on his official MV Agusta, PJ Jacobsen cannot line up alongside his little comrades…

Second start: Sofuoglu starts again very strongly from first place ahead of Stapleford, Mahias, Cluzel, Kennedy, Francis, Rea, Morais, Smith, Gamarino, etc. At the first passage in the Esses, Cluzel forces his way a little on Mahias and goes in pursuit of Stapleford who lets Sofuoglu escape…

Federico Caricasulo does not complete his first lap. His teammate Lucas Mahias, on the contrary, remains on his wheels and in the rhythm … Jules Cluzel is however a little faster at the start of – short – Superport race: the n ° 16 dislocates Stapelford in the straight line of the return and go up to second position !

Kenan’s lead over Jules was maintained at three-quarters of a second in the 3rd lap. Lucas finds less than a second of his – our! – compatriot and Luke remains in the wheel of the leader of the championship. Jack Kennedy closes this first rather scattered group.

Already two seconds behind the second Triumph, the wildcard Joe Francis leads a second group formed by Sheridan Morais, Christian Gamarino, Gino Rea, Kyle Ryde, Kyle Smith, Anthony West and Hikari Okubo.

Up front, Kenan Sofuoglu maintains an impressive pace that Cluzel cannot match. Our "Coq Supersportif" is also caught by Mahias … A good second behind, the two teammates Stapleford and Kennedy are also riding in tight formation.

Obviously very comfortable in the first and fast Redgate curve, Lucas passes in front of Jules at the very beginning of the 7th lap … The first half of the race has already been crossed and the n ° 144 will have to spit in his gloves. he wants to fill the second and a half that separates him from the comfortable leader n ° 1 !

The bulk of the spectacle is provided by Kennedy who stumbles on Stapleford: the Irishman vainly seeks an opening on his teammate during two superb laps. He ends up finding her four laps from the end. On his Italian 675, Zaccone falls at the exit of the Esses: the MV Agusta team will not score any points in Great Britain…

In the lead since the red lights went out, the n ° 1 Kawasaki increased his lead to more than two seconds on the penultimate lap. Mahias, on the contrary, cannot outrun Cluzel … On the contrary, the n ° 16 Honda starts the last lap in the rear wheel of the n ° 144 Yamaha !

As in Assen, the two Frenchmen are fighting for the second step of the podium … Mahias takes fairly defensive trajectories which block Cluzel’s incessant assaults! In the last lap, the Honda PTR rider tries to pass before the Fogarty Esses but his opponent on the factory Yamaha prevents him..

"Julo" must move very inside to place a new attack near the Melbourne hairpin … He passes in front of Lucas but misses the rope and stays behind after the recess. As Sofuoglu crosses the finish line victorious, Mahias impeccably protects himself from Cluzel when braking the final hairpin..

The public is delighted to see two British riders and two English motorcycles finish in the Top "Five", three seconds behind our "Frenchies" and their Japanese machines. British Supersport Champion 2015 Luke Stapleford finally finished ahead of teammate Jack Kennedy.

Despite Kenan Sofuoglu’s third victory in a row, Lucas Mahias took advantage of this sixth WSSP 2017 event to increase his lead in the championship: the factory Yamaha rider totaled 105 points, 30 more than the Ninja n ° 1 who climbed in second square. With 55 points, Jules Cluzel returns to the level of the unlucky PJ Jacobsen.

2017 WSSP Race Result at Donington Park

Related articles

• 07-13 Italy – Misano – WSSP Italy: Sofuoglu knocks out Mahias and beats Cluzel – Used KAWASAKI

  WSSP Italy: Sofuoglu knocks out Mahias and beats Cluzel Kenan Sofuoglu managed the WSSP race beautifully on the Misano circuit this afternoon! The…

• 04-13 Netherlands – Assen – WSSP Netherlands: Sofuoglu easily beats Mahias and Cluzel – Used KAWASAKI

  WSSP Netherlands: Sofuoglu easily beats Mahias and Cluzel Absent from Phillip Island and Buriram, then ejected from his Kawasaki in Aragon, Kenan…

• 10-13 Portugal – Portimão – WSSP Portugal: Facing Sofuoglu, Mahias bends but does not break – Opportunities KAWASAKI

  WSSP Portugal: Faced with Sofuoglu, Mahias bends but does not break Sofuoglu had to pull out all the stops to win over Mahias and Cluzel this afternoon…

• WSBK – WSSP Great Britain: Sofuoglu drives the nails –

  WSSP Great Britain: Sofuoglu drives the nails Uncompromising Friday and Saturday at Donington Park, Kenan Sofuoglu transformed his testing during the…

• WSBK – WSSP Germany: solid Sofuoglu, surprising Tuuli, reassuring Cluzel – Used KAWASAKI

  WSSP Germany: solid Sofuoglu, surprising Tuuli , reassuring Cluzel The ninth race of the 2016 Supersport World Championship has just taken place on the…

• 05-13 Italy – Imola – WSSP Italy: Mahias ensures behind the champion Sofuoglu – Secondhand KAWASAKI

  WSSP Italy: Mahias ensures behind the champion Sofuoglu Kenan Sofuoglu won the – short – World Supersport race this Sunday at Imola, but Lucas Mahias did…

• 06-13 Great Britain – Donington – WorldSSP Great Britain: Cortese and Cluzel dethrone Krummenacher and Mahias – Used YAMAHA

  WorldSSP Great Britain: Cortese and Cluzel dethrone Krummenacher and Mahias Separated by a small point when arriving at Donington Park, Krummenacher and…

• WSBK – WSSP Italy: Sofuoglu at the top, Cluzel at the top … –

  WSSP Italy: Sofuoglu at the top, Cluzel at the top… Beaten in qualifying by the young Federico Caricasulo, Kenan Sofuoglu waited for the last laps of…

• WSBK – WSSP Italy: Cluzel and Zanetti knock out Sofuoglu –

  WSSP Italy: Cluzel and Zanetti knock out Sofuoglu Preceded by Sofuoglu in the first corners, Cluzel took the lead before the end of the first lap and…

• Italy – Misano – WSSP Italy: Mahias replaces Cluzel on the Supersport podium in Misano –

  WSSP Italy: Mahias replaces Cluzel on the Supersport podium in Misano Like Jules Cluzel two weeks ago in Jerez, Lucas Mahias has followed the – wrong ?!…