Report - HRC

After a dramatic penultimate lap at the 5.380km Losail circuit in Qatar Kenan Sofuoglu (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda CBR600RR) took his all-new machine to the first race win of the 13-round World Supersport season, after his team-mate Sebastien Charpentier (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda CBR600RR) fell while leading. The only consolation for Charpentier was a new lap record, 2m 02.949s, set on lap three.

The two top Honda riders on the day were locked in a battle for the win, but Charpentier pushed too hard when going wide into a left hand corner and he was unable to restart after the subsequent lowside crash. Each rider had qualified on the front row, with Charpentier close to pole man, and eventual second place rider, Kevin Curtain, and Sofuoglu fourth on the grid.

Katsuaki Fujiwara (Althea Honda Team CBR600RR) had a successful start to his season, third on the grid and in the race, but setting comparable lap times with the leaders once he got over the hectic first few laps.

Lorenzo Alfonsi (Althea Honda Team CBR600RR) made a strong debut for a rookie in his team and at this circuit, taking points for a 13th place finish, after going 20th in qualifying.

Sofuoglu expected a fight with his team-mate right to the end, but it was not to be, as he ended up running alone for the last lap, finishing some 3.4 seconds ahead of Curtain.

“I knew I could be challenging for the podium,” said Sofuoglu, who is no stranger to wins in WSS. “Kevin went away in front very fast but after only three or four laps I knew I could increase my speed and make an attack. I could ride at a high pace consistently, as could Sebastien, and for sure if he did not crash we would have fought for the win. I am really happy because last year Sebastian was better than me but I think this year we are more like the same.”

Charpentier was naturally unhappy with his final misfortune in Losail.

“I am obviously very disappointed with the outcome of this race,” said a despondent double World Champion. “I was so close to the finish and I think we could have easily got a first and second for the team, but I lost the front end and couldn’t recover from it. This has happened now, so I just need to look forward to the next round. It is only the first race and we have plenty of time to make it up.”

Front row starter Fujiwara could not capitalise on his strong qualifying performances on the first lap at least, yet he knew his final race weekend would be a good one after setting the fastest time on day one.

“This was a better performance than we could have hoped for when we came to Qatar,” said Fujiwara. “Today our final position as good but if we could start well, and get away with the top group, there was a possibility to win today. We didn’t test here, had a new bike, new suspension everything new, and yet we got on the podium.”

Alfonsi’s weekend ended up with him 13th in the race, after finishing 20th in qualifying for his new squad on the new CBR600RR.

“Not bad because this was the first time for me in Qatar,” said the Italian rider. “It is a difficult track, fast corners and one little mistake means your lap time is a second slower. My new team is fantastic and I hope for even better race results soon.”

The second round of the Supersport championship takes place at Phillip Island, Australia, next week, with race day on Sunday March 4.

World Superbike Round 1 of 13

TOSELAND LEAVES LOSAIL WITH CHAMPIONSHIP LEAD AFTER RACE TWO WIN

James Toseland (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda CBR1000RR) made a near perfect start to his championship campaign in 2007 with a second place and a win, after making two good starts from a third place Superpole qualifying position. He will arrive in Australia in a few days time for round two with a share of the championship lead.

Toseland’s push towards a final second place in race one was an immaculate ride almost until the end, with only one rider able to make a better result after 18-laps; Max Biaggi. Roberto Rolfo scored seventh in his first race for his new team, with Steve Martin (DFX Corse Honda CBR100RR) 11th, after qualifying only 17th. All other official Honda riders in race one fell out of contention for points scoring places or retired.

Toseland’s start-to-finish domination of race two was an impressive sight and despite a strong push from Biaggi in the final laps, Toseland held out to win by a 0.7 seconds, leaving Qatar with a share of the championship lead. Now on 45 points, Toseland and Biaggi are 20 points clear of the rest of the chasing pack, headed by Lanzi on 25 points.

Race two was not as fruitful for Rolfo, as he was forced to retire on lap one with clutch issues, but for the three race one non-finishers, Michel Fabrizio (DFX Corse Honda CBR1000RR), Joshua Brookes (Alto Evolution Honda CBR1000RR) and Karl Muggeridge (Alto Evolution Honda CBR1000RR) points were scored for 12th, 13th and 14th places respectively.

A change of suspension setting for Martin had a negative effect on rear tyre traction, and he struggled hard to score 18th place.

Toseland was the only rider to stay with Biaggi in race one, and was a popular race two winner.

“I have had a great weekend,” said a jubilant Toseland. “I was quickest on Friday morning and in the top three in all sessions. My lowest position was sixth and that was in the warm up this morning. I was quite disappointed with the first race, but in the second race we set the pace and got to the front. The last two laps were difficult but we made it and got first place. This is my seventh year in World Superbikes and I am fitter than ever. We deserve to be at the front after a winter of hard work and to get there in the first race weekend is brilliant.”

Rolfo’s weekend was highlighted by his good points in race one, but he felt a twinge of disappointment about race two.

“Every rider is disappointed when they have a problem that is outside of their control,” stated Rolfo. “However, putting that aside it’s been a fantastic experience to be part of such a professional team for the first event of the 2007 championship. I have learned a lot about the bike and the way I need to ride it. I still have a heavy feeling at the front of the bike, particularly at the beginning of the race, but once I overcome this with my riding I will be very happy.”

Martin realised that the changes made between race one and race two were not the correct ones, but race one was a big improvement on qualifying.

“Our first race was good, really happy with that after qualifying,” said Martin. “In the second race we went stiffer with the suspension to try and get it to turn and it was completely the wrong way. I had no grip at all, like riding around in the wet. So at least we know to go softer from now on.”

Fabrizio had his wheel taken from him in first lap of race one, but recovered to 13th place in race two, and 14th overall in the table, despite some rear traction problems.

“A bad race one because I got knocked off by another rider, and a not so good race two, but I got some points,” said Fabrizio, “At the beginning of the second race things were pretty good but half way through the rear started spinning a lot and I couldn’t push any harder.”

Brookes fell in the opening leg, but won at least one fight in race two.

“After the crash in race one we thought the bike was OK, but on the start line the temperature went right up and to be honest I was worrying about how hot the engine was getting, and I thought I was going to have to pull in,” said Brookes. “Once I got going the temperature did come down and I ended up having a battle with Karl. Every lap I was getting plus zero on my pit board but I managed to keep him behind me until the end.”

Muggeridge, who had an eventful pre-race Losail meeting missed the whole first qualifying session due to technical issues, collided with another rider in final qualifying and had his clutch go on race one, but fought back in race two.

“We’re losing out on power at the moment and so we’re just having to run with what we’ve got,” said Muggeridge. “We’ve lost a lot of track time over the weekend, which hasn’t made it easy, but I still feel that the bike is working well. We just need to get a bit more horsepower into the equation. We’ve got good potential with the chassis and electronics and we just need a bit more time to set it all up.”