WSBK – Indomitable Sofuoglu! –

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Indomitable sofuoglu !

WSBK - Indomitable Sofuoglu! -

Last Sunday on the Nivernaise track, the 2007 world champion wanted to win his last race in the Mondial Supersport! At home, the French themselves also wanted to shine in front of their large crowd. Report.

In Supersport, Kenan Sofuoglu obtains his fifth and last pole – since he climbs in SBK next year and does not intend to go down in 600 – by completing his best lap in 1 ‘42.057. He is followed by Broc Parkes, Sebastien Charpentier and Tommy Hill.

The second row is led by Fabien Foret and his ZX-6R, which will have to mark the Parkes R6 closely to keep its second place in the championship! Gianluca Vizziello and Massimo Roccoli are 6th and 7th. Finally, David Checa, pilot of GMT94 and informed internet user (read) completes the second row.

Craig Jones, great host of the last Italian event (read), leads the third row ahead of Josh Brookes, Gregory Leblanc and Katsuaki Fujiwara. Sebastien Gimberte will start from 15th place, Kenny Foray on the Honda Intermoto Czech from 24th, David Perret on his Kawasaki Scratch Moto Racing Team and Julien Enjolras from Yamaha Tati Team Beaujolais Racing Team from 30th.

Supersport Race

Kenan Sofuoglu retained his advantage and took command of the race from the 1st corner, ahead of Tommy Hill, Broc Parkes, Gianluca Vizziello, Sebastien Charpentier, Josh Brookes and David Checa! At the first passage of Adelaide, Parkes slipped into 2nd position, determined to contest the last victory for the 2007 Champion !

Then follows a fierce struggle between the two men. However their battle does not prevent them from moving away from the rest of the pack, led by Hill, Vizziello, the hot Jones, Brookes but also General Seb, "Hutch" Checa, "Starsky" Gimbert !

Fabien Foret is in 10th position, a place which will not be enough to defend his 2nd place in the championship against Parkes, on whom he has only 15 points in advance … Leblanc is 16th, Foray 19th, Perret 28th and Enjolras 29th.

The pace of the two leading men is much faster than that of their pursuers: Kenan and Broc glean more than half a second per lap from Tommy, Gianluca, Seb, David, Craig and company. And yet…

"I didn’t attack too much in the first laps because I knew I could be good at the end of the race", revealed Kenan when he got off his bike! For his part, Broc Parkes made the most of his soft rear rubber and kept the lead for the first 9 laps.

Unfortunately for the Australian, as the race progresses, the temperature rises! "Who could have predicted that the temperature would rise by 9 degrees in half an hour !", protests Tommy Hill, that his prematurely worn tire forced to let Vizziello and Jones go to the 3rd step of the podium.

As for David Checa, who was also fighting for the podium, he is too penalized by his engine to be on par with these fellows and has to manhandle his R6 in braking. Gold, "by dint of rubbing against the limit, it happens that we find it !", skilfully notes the official GMT website…

So in the 8th lap, David Checa goes straight ahead: he loses 3 seconds … and contact with the peloton! Alone in 6th position, the Spaniard will keep his place until the end and defends the French colors loudly: thank you Hutch !

But Checa is not the only one to perform superb braking! Sweeping the track with his rear wheel, Sofuoglu decides to pass Parkes before Adelaïde! The hatchet is dug up and the leading duo now spin a second faster than their little comrades.

Behind, as he battles for 14th place, Veneman loses the lead on lap 11 and forces Foret momentarily off the track. The height of bad luck, the n ° 9 Kawasaki is victim of electrical problem: he abandons the race – and his 2nd place overall – two laps later…

At the forefront, the battle continues and Kenan must put out his best piloting to keep Parkes at bay. In fact, the Australian is going to be so urgent that the Turkish is totally missing from the fault !

"I lost the front (the outside footrest or even its handlebars !, Editor’s note) halfway through the race and I simply managed to stay on the bike, but it was very fair !", admit" Superglu ", as his fan club calls it! Suddenly, the n ° 54 of the Honda Ten Kate team considers that it is better"calm things down and wait a few turns for a new attack".

And the Turkish’s plan is going wonderfully: in the 17th lap, the 2007 champion goes back on the offensive, lodges himself in his bubble and sticks 3 seconds to the Yam driver in the space of three laps! Therefore, nothing can prevent Kenan from winning his 8th victory of the season, a new record in the category. !

Broc Parkes secures the 2nd place of the race and the "title" of vice-world champion 2007, although Kenan can also claim: With his score (276 points), the Turkish has more than double the points than the Australian (133)! Craig Jones, also in "attack" mode, crosses the finish line in 3rd position, 4 tenths ahead of Vizziello and a second ahead of Hill.

After Parkes, Craig Jones therefore performs the best operation in the championship: he jumps from 7th to 5th place: there is no doubt that the young Briton will be one to watch closely next year. Roccoli and Harms therefore downgrade by one place while Fujiwara retains his 4th position.

On the French side, Foret therefore finished 3rd: "reach the top 3 with a brand new bike in a championship if not bad", concludes Fabien who will race next year on the new R6 near Parkes.

Charpentier ends his black season in 11th position with 51 points, a score he would have obtained in two races the two previous seasons! Hard for the General, whose teammate, on the other hand, had a glorious year…

David Checa of Christophe Guyot’s Team GMT 94 finished one point behind the double world champion and Matthieu Lagrive was only 4 lengths in 14th position. Then follow Sebastien Gimbert 20th with 37 points, Yoann Tiberio 24th (29 points), Gregory Leblanc 29th (15 pts), Julien Enjolras 31st (7 pts), and the wildcards who score points from their first participation: Kenny Foray (2pts) and David Perret (1pts).

In the constructors’ standings, it is obviously Honda which wins the 2007 title with 296 points, far ahead of Yamaha (228), Kawasaki (141), Suzuki (81) and Ducati (49).

SSP Magny-Cours results:

Pilot Team Time Tours
1 Sofuoglu K. Honda hannspree 37 ‘55.892 22
2 Parkes B. Yamaha World SSP 37 ‘58.686 22
3 Jones C. Honda Revè Ekerold 38 ‘07.027 22
4 Vizziello G. Yamaha RG Team 38 ‘07.443 22
5 Hill T. Yamaha World SSP 38 ‘08.251 22
6 Checa D. Yamaha GMT 94 38 ‘12.365 22
7 Brookes J. Honda Stiggy Motorsport 38 ‘13.753 22
8 Fujiwara K. Honda althea 38 ‘17.911 22
9 Leblanc G. Honda Vazy Racing Team 38 ‘18.432 22
10 Roccoli M. Yamaha Lorenzini by Leoni 38 ‘18.532 22
11 Gimbert S. Yamaha GMT 94 38 ‘19.426 22
12 Tode A. Honda Parkalgar 38 ‘25.372 22
13 Sanna S. Honda Parkalgar 38 ‘35.990 22
14 Foray K. Honda Intermoto Czech 38 ‘36.175 22
15 Perret D. Kawasaki Scratch Motorcycle 38 ‘38.774 22
19 Enjolras J. Yamaha Tati Beaujolais 38 ‘54.642 22
26 Drill F. Kawasaki Gil Motor Sport 21 ‘17.396 12
27 Carpenter S. Honda hannspree 17 ‘29.943 10

Best round of the round: 1 ‘42.740 – Sofuoglu (4th round)
Best lap in previous race: 1 ‘43.429 – Sofuoglu (2006)

2007 World Supersport Ranking:

Pilot Team Points
1 Sofuoglu K. Honda hannspree 276
2 Parkes B. Yamaha World SSP 133
3 Drill F. Kawasaki Gil Motor Sport 128
4 Fujiwara K. Honda althea 101
5 Jones C. Honda Revè Ekerold 94
6 Roccoli M. Yamaha Italia 90
7 Harms R. Honda Stiggy Motorsport 83
8 Veneman B. Suzuki Pioneer Hoegee 70
9 West A. Yamaha World SSP 66
10 Vizziello P. Yamaha RG Team 60

11

 Carpenter S. Honda hannspree 51
12 Checa D. Yamaha GMT 94 50
13 Nannelli G. Ducati SC Caracchi 49
14 Lagrive M. Honda Intermoto Czech 46
15 Alfonsi L. Honda althea 45
20 Gimbert S. Yamaha GMT 94 37

24

 Tiberio Y. Honda Stiggy Motorsport 29
29 Leblanc G. Honda Vazy Racing Team 15
31 Enjolras J. Yamaha Tati Beaujolais 7

37

 Foray K. Honda Intermoto Czech 2
38 Perret D. Kawasaki Scratch Motorcycle 1

Matthieu BRETILLE – Photos DR and Alexandre BARDIN

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