2006 Supersport World Championship
WSS Round 11 – Imola (Italy)
First Qualifying
CHARPENTIER AND SOFULOFLU GO 1-2 ON OPENING DAY
Despite suffering a crash in the middle of the first qualifying
session of the Imola weekend Sebastien Charpentier (Winston
Ten Kate Honda) took a stunning provisional pole time of 1’52.842,
almost a second faster than his championship rival Kevin Curtain,
and only close to being matched by Charpentier’s on-form
team-mate, Kenan Sofuoglu (Winston Ten Kate Honda), who finished
his first day of Imola Supersport action second quickest.
After his fall Charpentier had to jump on his second machine
to set his very best time, at a new layout of Imola circuit,
deposing Sofuoglu from provisional pole spot in the process.
Sofuoglu has been the winner of the most recent two races
in the championship, at Assen and Lausitz, and hopes to score
at least a podium at Imola after his impressive opening day.
Ronald Ten Kate – Team Manager
“The best possible start to the weekend and we know
from the evidence of the last few years that this is a good
track for us around here. The riders have done an almost perfect
job for us today, putting in incredible lap times. The track
has slowed down a bit but we can see almost the same times
as we set before. That is impressive. We had a small problem
when Sebastien had a crash on his number one machine. That
upset things a bit because we had to swap to his second machine
and that cost us time, because the set-up was quite different
to start with. But he still set his best time on his number
two bike. For Kenan it looked like he would top the sheets
until Sebastien had his final say. We are happy, especially
because being almost a second ahead of the field now means
we can concentrate quite a bit on just racing set-up, instead
of chasing a single fast lap. All we can do at the moment
is win as many races as we can and see what the championship
will bring.”
Sebastien Charpentier – Winston Ten Kate Honda
Rider
(Pole position – Fastest lap 1’52.842 –
12 laps)
“I feel good at the moment, I just made a small mistake.
I crashed on a slow corner, losing the front, nothing special.
I am happy to be here because I like the country we are in,
and the track. For me it is the best track for a motorcycle
rider. I’ll be working hard tomorrow again, we will
maybe try a different set-up to find a better one, and I am
really confident for the rest of the weekend.”
Kenan Sofuoglu – Winston Ten Kate Honda Rider
(2nd position – Fastest lap 1’53.081 – 15
laps)
”It’s OK so far because I came here for the first
time on the 600 and I like the track. My lap times are good
and quite close to Sebastien and I’m sure I can improve
tomorrow, and maybe even take the pole. I will give most of
my concentration to the race, because I want to be really
strong there. It’s good to be fast now but I have to
keep it until Sunday, as I really want a podium finish here.”
FIRST QUALIFYING:
1. Charpentier - Winston Ten Kate Honda - 1'52.842
2. Sofuoglu - Winston Ten Kate Honda - 1'53.081
3. Curtain - Yamaha - 1'53.728
4. Nannelli - Ducati - 1''53.790
5. Harms - Honda - 1'53.902
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