WSBK – Great Britain and Italy champions in South Africa! – The Supersport race

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Great Britain and Italy champions in South Africa !

WSBK - Great Britain and Italy champions in South Africa! - The Supersport race

The 6th round of the Superbike World Championship saw the Italians, the English and the Irish in Superbike and Supersport win this weekend in Kyalami (South Africa). The pilots explain themselves and Site decrypts: facts and analyzes.

The Supersport race

The 6th round of the Superbike World Championship saw the Italians, the English and the Irish in Superbike and Supersport win this weekend in Kyalami (South Africa) (read). The pilots explain themselves and Site deciphers: facts and analyzes.

Kyalami’s podium

The winner: Eugene Laverty : "Kenan held me in check during the first half of the race but my Honda Parkalgar was very good and I had saved my tire so I was able to attack and escape in the second half. I think at the same time Kenan’s tire started to weaken which helped me. This is the very first time that I have won three straight victories in any league, and it took a while. It’s good to start at the head of the championship, everything is open for the second half of the season".

Second: Kenan Sofuoglu: "It was far from an easy couse although at first it was not difficult to stay with Eugene. As the race progressed I tried to attack to close the gap but almost lost the front several times so I thought "OK, let’s settle for the podium and collect the points". I think we will be stronger with the CBR at the end of the season. I will continue to take the maximum points in each race, but I have to give a big congratulations to Eugene who did a really good job today.".

Third: Chaz Davies: "It was a tough race. If I had had a better place on the grid, I could have fought for the victory. I got off to a good start and ended up behind Fujiwara, which I eventually passed, not without difficulty. I beat him half a second and Pirro passed him as well. Unfortunately, the first two already had a big advantage and it was impossible to come back even while riding in their rhythm".

MNC Analysis – With this fourth victory – the third in a row as he likes to point out – Eugene Laverty stands out as the strongman of the category, although Kenan Sofuoglu tops the shelves after the first six rounds. (117 points against 116!).

Laverty perfectly masters his art on the track: casually, the Irishman literally knocked out the Turk halfway through the race: between the 10th and 12th laps, the No. 50 CBR doubled its lead – then by 1.2 seconds – on her twin n ° 54.

Author of the pole, the best time in the race and at the end of a clear course, Eugene crossed the finish line four seconds before Kenan on the only rear wheel … What else ?

Behind this superb mano a mano of pilots hides that of the two most charismatic managers of the Supersport paddock: Ronald Ten Kate and Simon Buckmaster! The former is looking to catch up after stumbling last year against Yamaha and Crutchlow. The second, supported by the important sponsor Parkingo, is looking for a first title…

Far behind the two leading men – but still further ahead of Michele Pirro and Joan Lascorz, third strongman of the start of the championship -, Chaz Davies recalls that the Daytona 675 has great potential by matching its performance in Valencia.

In addition to his raw performances (3rd in the race and 4th in the championship with 77 points), the British n ° 7 impresses with his style while generosity and gliding on the track! The "serial Twitter" and beer lover – like his friend Laverty – will be closely followed in the next races, if only for his driving !

Other drivers will also be to watch in the second half of the season: Michele Pirro, Gino Rea, David Salom and a certain Matthieu Lagrive !

Our French

Sixth: Matthieu Lagrive: "This race has been difficult. How I love them! It is true that with a better start I could have played at the front, but the main thing is my consistency. The machine is efficient. The alchemy of the two will eventually pay off because the season is still long. I am satisfied: I was able to demonstrate that I am fast in this category. I still have to find the right settings on these damn departures. I will take advantage of these few short days of rest, to recover from my slight physical pain in order to be in shape next weekend for the second endurance test that awaits me in Albacete".

Abandonment: Fabien Foret: "A terrible weekend, which will be crossed off the calendar. We were unable to find any traction and the extensive testing done resulted in only minimal improvement. I chose the softest tire fitment possible knowing, even before hitting the track, that it would only help us at the start of the race. I had no choice but to return to the pits and that obviously disappointed me a lot. Miller is coming in two weeks and I plan to make up for it to reward my whole team after this unhappy weekend.".

MNC Analysis – Decidedly, fate is hitting our poor Fabien Foret: for three races now, the driver of the private Kawasaki n ° 99 has not crossed the finish line, so has scored points in the championship. The French ninja thus retrograde to 13th place in the provisional ranking…

Our 2002 world champion however deserves much better, as evidenced by these four starts – out of six in all – on the second row of the grid! Fortunately for French fans, Matthieu Lagrive and his Triumph are more consistent, but still a long hair to relax…

Fell to 12th place at the end of the first round following a "small technical problem", the Frenchie and his Triumph quickly overtake the South African Lance Isaacs then, from the halfway point, the Japanese Katsuaki Fujiwara, the English Gino Rea, the Italian Massimo Roccoli and the Danish Robbin Harms…

All while managing the pressure imposed on him by his own teammate David Salom – who ends this event in his exhaust – and by competing in his audacity in his piloting against his other colleague Chaz Davies Himself !

Proof that Matthieu can claim the podium: he is the author in Kyalami of the fifth best time in the race, 3 thousandths behind Pirro and Fujiwara! The gap is however greater against Laverty and Sofuoglu, who posted times lower than half a second during this round … Forza Matthieu !

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