Interview Jules Cluzel: the 2017 WSSP championship is relaunched

Terribly unlucky at the start of the season, Jules Cluzel climbed back to fourth in the provisional and continues to aim for his first world title as the 2017 Supersport World Championship observes a long two-month break…. Interview.

Of the twelve races in the 2017 World Supersport championship, … And the last four have been won by the five-time world champion Kenan Sofuoglu, this impressive series propelling the Turkish driver to 5 points behind French leader Lucas Mahias !

• MNC special file :
• MNC special file :

30 points behind Kawasaki # 1, in fourth place, Honda # 16. Hit by the fiery Caricasulo during the opening round at, the CBR600RR then threw in the towel in the second round at, leaving the unlucky Jules Cluzel without a point at the arrival of the WSSP in Europe…

Fortunately, the machine of the PTR team has stopped playing – bad – tricks on our dear "Coq Supersportif"! He was exemplary, earning the maximum number of points at each meeting. During his last outing in particular, at, Jules avoided the fall – – and scored 20 very important points.

Deprived of Laguna Seca (only the Superbike category is flying to the United States in two weeks), the Mondial Supersport riders will only be back on the track in two long months. Site takes advantage of Mr. "Julo’s" vacation to take stock … on many subjects !

Site: Hi Jules, how are you ?
Jules Cluzel: Well, it’s going well. I have just returned from a good race in Misano, from a good weekend. There, we arrive on the second part of the season, with the summer break. Everything is fine !

MNC: Let’s talk about the past … What penalized you the most in F3 last year? The change of regulation concerning electronics maybe ?
J. C.: A lot of points complicated our 2016 season. The new regulations indeed, but generally all the technical aspects. Engine, electronics … everything happened at the last moment and we unfortunately had some bad surprises. The problem is also that the first part of the season very quickly followed with Australia, Thailand and the first European rounds. The bikes never went back to the workshop, so we never really could improve them before the second part of the season..

MNC: You will still have good memories of MV Agusta ?
J. C.: Yes it’s sure. I spent three years there marked by victories and two vice-champion titles. It will remain a very good time in my career for me. I regret just a little the fact of not having been able to go for the title of world champion. But hey, you never know what the future holds. I may go back to a MV !

MNC: You say you regret not having obtained the title. In general, do you prefer to forget your failures, your bad times, your bad luck, or do you, on the contrary, think about it from time to time, just to motivate yourself? ?
J. C .: Well I think about it, I’m not going to lie to you. Sometimes I go over the past a bit, my little disappointments … Or my biggest ones, like this championship title with MV which would have been a great accomplishment for me. I did everything for it, unfortunately I was very unlucky. I think about it regularly, as I think about the ones that cost me the head of the championship…

MNC: We were going to come there! Have you digested your difficult start to the 2017 season ?
J. C .: Not that much, no, because today I’m doing zero mistakes, I’m pretty happy with my first part of the season…

MNC: With 75 points in five races, you can be !
J. C.: Yes thanks. Even when things are not going well, I get by: my worst result is sixth at Imola. Basically, we’re still in the Top 5. Without Australia and Thailand, everything would be different. But that’s life, that’s how it is. I think about it, but it doesn’t cost me because I don’t make mistakes. On the last race with Kenan, for example, I felt that I couldn’t do better than second. So I went to get the 20 points for second place.

MNC: This sacred Kenan "left you alone" at the start of the season (in quotes because he was injured), but he is – big – back! In Misano, you almost lost the front trying to beat him. Do you think you can go get it on the next races ?
J. C .: I think yes. You say he left us alone the first two races, it’s true … But in the end, we can’t speak of bad luck. He was injured in training this winter. Personally, I’m a bit the opposite of Kenan: I don’t have the motorcycles or the facilities he has to train between races. I don’t train and there is an advantage to this: I don’t take any risks !

• MNC special file :

In addition, he has five world championship titles, he has nothing more to lose or to prove. He’s very confident, he’s been on this Kawasaki for so long, he knows it by heart and continues to improve with each year. He is for me one of the greatest riders of 600, and today he is relaxed, he has no stress. A sixth title won’t change his life.

MNC: He also declared that he was no longer interested in world crowns, but in racing trophies! However at this rate (four wins in a row), he risks winning this sixth title. Not easy to stop this kind of guy…
J. C .: Ah for sure! But without the collision and the retirement at the start of the season, I would be ahead of him in the championship: for me then, it wouldn’t have been a problem for him to win four races in a row. Today it is a little more so. But the championship is relaunched now: Lucas Mahias no longer has a lead, Kenan has caught up with him and must rethink the championship (105 points for the French leader, 100 for the Turkish champion, Editor’s note). Despite what Kenan said, I think he didn’t really believe in it anymore and didn’t want to put pressure on himself. Now it is not the same. He will no longer be able to do anything because he has the possibility of playing the title. Me, I am in ambush, and we will say that it is more interesting. Maybe I will be able to recover some broken pieces? I have nothing to lose either. Admittedly, it was already the case at and at, but I gave it my all there and I’m quite proud of it. I couldn’t do more: more was on the floor! I keep thinking about the title, even if I already burned my jokers at the beginning of the year.

MNC: You readily admit it, Kenan is an extremely talented driver. But does his Kawasaki have anything special ?
J. C.: I think in 600 Supersport there aren’t too many bad bikes, but they‘re all different. I know it from having driven the MV and the Honda. In my opinion, the Kawasaki is a homogeneous motorcycle. But above all, Kenan has a particular style that fits very well with the 600s: he has a very back position, does not sway that much. It is not particularly impressive, but it is…

MNC: … Efficient ?!
J. C.: … Quite simply different! He managed to shape his bike, to adjust it according to his riding style. The Puccetti team has also evolved, they are good at Kawasaki and everything is working. Kenan knows his bike by heart, he knows where it is and where it is, he benefits from data from previous years, which I no longer have today. I think he feels 100% on his bike, that’s not the case yet. I still have things to understand. Even though I rode on this bike in 2012, the tires are not the same, there was traction control, engine brake assistance … Today there is nothing! And I mostly drove three years on an MV Agusta in the meantime! Compared to Kenan today, I sin by my lack of experience on the Honda.

MNC: You have never ridden on Kawasaki in SSP. You don’t particularly want it or you haven’t had the opportunity ?
J. C .: I could have had possibilities when I entered the category in 2012, but it didn’t come to fruition. I’ve never tried it, but not for lack of desire. It’s just that today Kawasaki has Kenan Sofuoglu who is there to play the title and they are only betting on him. Afterwards, as I said earlier, you never know what the future will bring…

MNC: It was difficult to pass, finally to go back from MV Agusta to Honda ?
J. C.: Yeah, it was still complicated because they have nothing to do with it. Whether it is the size, the weight, the behavior, the engine. I feel like I really took the MV 100%. It just lacked development on this bike, and technical stability. For the Honda, I might say something stupid but it must be ten years old … That said, it still works well the old one (laughs). I really feel that there is still potential to be exploited. I haven’t figured it out yet, and that’s pretty good news. I would have liked to be 100% from my first race, but the winter was short. I find it easier for me in the race: with the MV, I had to adapt my style to a motorcycle that looked more like a 1000 cc, unlike the Honda which is a real 600. I realize that account by following the others who are on Kawa or Yamaha, it seems much easier. The big problem is that we don’t do tests. The weekends of the race go very quickly: we arrive on Friday in the first session to see where we are, the second is used for settings but we must already think about being in the top ten for Superpole 2. We still suffer. stress, we can’t take our time too much. And on Saturday we have 15 minutes at 9 am in conditions that have nothing to do with what we know the rest of the weekend. Then we have another 15 minutes in SP2 where we focus on the stopwatch, on twice two laps. Morality, we do not drive, we can not test anything … It’s a bit of a shame. I use the races to progress, quite simply.

MNC: In terms of equipment, there is something a little curious: commercial sports cars have state-of-the-art electronics, including the 600. But your racing motorcycles do not have any! You find that normal ?
J. C.: Frankly, we realized that it tightened the outposts a bit. We see a little more racing in packages, which is not bad. Now, I don’t really understand why we cut everything: I have tried both types of motorcycles, with and without electronics … well I find that electronics are a small asset to go faster. It depends on the pilots too, but I personally used it a lot, unlike Kenan. I’ve adapted to it and it doesn’t change anything. But I don’t really understand because that’s not what was expensive. I asked my team, and that didn’t jeopardize their presence on the grid.

MNC: They cost you this "electronic" line in the budget ?
J. C.: I don’t remember the exact amount, but it shouldn’t have exceeded 5,000 euros. This is not what costs the most for a team entered in the world championship. Especially in Supersport, it was a very simple system, basic and therefore easy to use. It could prevent falls, so cost-wise, I’m not sure that’s a good calculation. I do not know either if the leaders are satisfied with this measure. We see that Moto2 will adopt traction control in two years (in 2019, year of, Editor’s note). This is probably due to the fact that there is a lot of electronics in MotoGP. But we also have a lot of them in WSBK, so I don’t see where they are going with this. On the contrary, we should take the step in Supersport and get used to it. So I preferred as it was before. I adapted to the current regulations, I completely erased the previous one, but I preferred before: it allowed me to ride 1 to 1.5 seconds faster. It was nicer !

MNC: In WSBK too, motorcycles are supposed to be production motorcycles. The regulations are more and more strict but the Superbikes remain quite far from the models found in dealerships. What do you think ?
J. C.: I think that will change soon.

MNC: It’s a necessity, no ?
J. C.: It’s clear that the machines in World Superbike look a bit more like prototypes than production bikes. It has nothing to do with Supersport and I find that a shame: Superbikes should be in the same line, with just more power. The costs are too high in Superbike: it is only the factory bikes that win and crush everything else. The championship is not very exciting at the moment, although Misano’s last race seemed to indicate otherwise, but hey…

MNC: The Misano event was eventful and the Pirellis had some problems…
J. C.: Yes it’s clear. To come back to the Superbike regulations, I understand that there will be no changes in a while, you have to see.

MNC: Precisely, WorldSBK officials are thinking of introducing the electronic box in WSBK. This goes against a championship where motorcycles of different brands are aligned, with different solutions. ?!
J. C.: I’m not a technician (laughs). But from my point of view as a driver, you have to intervene in Superbike because I find that it does not smell good for this championship, whereas we need him. It must become more attractive, open up to the general public, consolidate its field because there are a lot of riders and not many motorcycles. It’s a championship that I like, it’s less political than MotoGP, but I’m a little afraid for its future.

• WSBK 2018 Rules :

MNC: You have already tasted Superbike. Would you like to go back, or you prefer to focus on Supersport and the world title ?
J. C.: I still think about it, why not. I did endurance this year with the and I had a lot of fun driving a 1000. Now, I would love to win the Supersport title … We don’t know, it will depend on the proposals in the next few years, if they are interesting. I would not go in Superbike to finish tenth at best, I have already done it and I did not enjoy it. I would really like to ride there in good conditions. Today I am 28 years old, I am in great shape and I feel that I have a lot of experience, so I hope that I will be allowed to ride on good bikes in good teams. In any case, I give the maximum on all the races, I hope it shows and that it will be useful to me !

MNC: You took part in your first 24 Hours of Le Mans with the LMD team. How was it ?
J. C.: I appreciated ! It really started from nothing at the base, a simple discussion between friends…

MNC: Between Auvergne !
J. C.: That’s it, between Auvergne around a good meal, and that led to this project. We started from far away because it was an amateur team that had never played in front. But with the three good pilots, the goals are set. We did the pre-Mans testing, then new faces joined us, which allowed us to progress each time. I had a lot of fun riding these motorcycles, although I had a lot of questions, even a little scared because I told myself that endurance motorcycles were not very interesting, a bit heavy, dangerous…

MNC: The levels between the pilots on the track are also very heterogeneous.
J. C.: Yes, in addition. I was afraid to ride these bikes but in the end I’m really happy to have made this decision, to have taken the plunge, because I think it gave me confidence. I now know that I can go fast on a bit of everything, regardless of the bike or the tires. In endurance racing, you had to do 120 laps with the front tire and 60 with the rear, that seemed crazy to me! Riding at night, the 24-liter tank, heavy motorcycles … But in the end I was pleasantly surprised, I had a lot of fun. In qualifying, I had a problem when I was in a crazy lap. In the race I drove fast, I made no mistakes. We didn’t go to the end, I can’t help it. But the experience was conclusive.

MNC: It made you want to participate in new events ?
J. C.: Yes why not, depending on what presents itself.

MNC: There is the Suzuka 8 Hours during the long summer break. We contacted you, or you threw out some CVs ?
J. C.: No no. Nothing concrete.

MNC: So what’s your program for this summer? ?
J. C.: Well there you see, I’m back from a good bike ride, it’s my program this summer. Two years ago I was injured, last summer I spent a lot of time on my sofa because I was operated again. This year it’s completely different: I’m training as much as possible to try to regain the legs I had and to be even better on the bike at the start of the school year..

MNC: We will follow that closely! Good training then, and thank you !
J. C.: No worries, ciao !

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