World Supersport Championship
Round five: Assen Circuit, The Netherlands
Qualifying report two
 HANNspree
Ten Kate Honda strive for perfection
World Supersport Championship leader Kenan Sofuoglu secured
his second pole position of the 2007 series at Assen Circuit
in The Netherlands today. Team-mate Sébastien Charpentier
continued his incredible comeback by securing second place
on the grid, while temporary rider Andrew Pitt will start
from seventh position.
This afternoon's second qualifying session was almost dominated
by the HANNspree Ten Kate Honda riders. At one point the timesheet
showed Charpentier, Sofuoglu and Pitt in the first, second
and third places respectively. Charpentier proved that he
is more than ready to race tomorrow by setting a blistering
time of 1'41.192, smashing the Assen best lap he set in 2006.
The Frenchman's time remained the fastest for the majority
of the 45-minute session until team-mate Sofuoglu just managed
to displace him with a lap of 1'41.144. Incredibly, the two
riders' final times were separated by just 0.048 seconds.
Tomorrow's race promises to be a close run for the duo as
they take the top two spots on the grid.
Pitt once again had trouble with slower moving traffic on
track and was unable to hold onto this third place on the
time sheet. He settled for a place on the second row of the
grid. However he is confident that he can put in a strong
performance for HANNspree Ten Kate Honda in tomorrow's 21-lap
race.
Ronald ten Kate, Team Manager:
"In racing we always strive for perfection and we almost
got perfection today in the Supersport qualifying. It looked
like our three riders were going to take the top three spots
in the front row, but then Andrew ran into traffic on his
last qualifying tyre and was unable to hold on to the third
place. He only has one bike so at the end of the session he
had to be a little bit reserved, but still big compliments
to him because he was only one tenth away from the front row.
As for Sébastien - what a comeback he has made so
far. This morning he raised the bar by beating the best lap.
This has given some great motivation to Kenan, who managed
to just beat Sébastien's best lap with a virtually
identical time. It just shows what great pair of permanent
riders we have. So, we are almost ready to race tomorrow -
maybe we can reach perfection then!"
Kenan Sofuoglu:
"I am really happy with today. In the morning I practiced
race distance because my ambition every weekend is to make
the first row in qualifying and to make good race distance.
This morning my race distance was really good, but I was thinking
it would be difficult to stay in the front row because a lot
of riders were doing fast laps. When I went out on the last
tyre I was just thinking that I had to do one really fast
lap to stay in the front row. I am really surprised because
there were riders in front of me on my fastest lap. Although
my aim is just to be on the front row - pole position is great
and I am really, really happy."
Sébastien Charpentier:
"Today was a good day for me. I really like the new
CBR600RR - it's a great bike, it's stronger and I have a much
better feeling on it. I have worked really hard today, especially
in the session this morning. This afternoon I made a good
lap time again and I was even faster than this morning. In
the last five minutes I went out on track to try and put in
a fast lap but there were too many riders in the way. I am
a little bit disappointed but overall I am happy about my
comeback - it's not a bad situation at all. I hope I will
be ok for the race because I still not completely sure about
the distance I can do. Not because I am in pain, but because
after one month break racing is not easy on the body. At the
moment my right leg is hurting, but I think I have a good
chance of reaching the podium tomorrow."
Andrew Pitt:
"I'm a bit disappointed really. We've found a good direction
with the bike - the bike is perfect. There's just too many
guys out there who don't look around and get out of the way
for riders on a faster lap. I had to abort my fast lap on
the tyre at the end twice. I tried to start it twice and had
to stop half way though. By the time I was clear the tyre
was on its way out. For the race we are looking ok - the race
pace is as good as anyone and the bike's working well."
Qualifying times:
1 K. Sofuoglu 1'41.144
2 S. Charpentier 1'41.192
3 B. Parkes 1'41.595
4 F. Foret 1'41.618
5 M. Roccoli 1'41.672
6 S. Martin 1'41.684
7 A. Pitt 1'41.761
8 K. Fujiwara 1'41.835
9 D. Salom 1'42.043
10 V. Ivanov 1'42.322
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