World Supersport Championship
Round four: Valencia, Spain
Race report
 HANNspree
Ten Kate Honda dominates Supersport podium
HANNspree Ten Kate dominated today's World Supersport race
in Valencia in a thrilling one-two podium finish. Kenan Sofuoglu
took the race victory while temporary team-mate Andrew Pitt
passed the chequered flag in second place. The stunning success
leaves Sofuoglu with a 95-point lead in the standings - a
huge 44 points ahead of nearest rival Fabien Foret.
The first nine laps of the eventful fourth-round race saw
a four-way battle for the top positions between Sofuoglu,
Pitt, Kevin Curtain and Pere Riba. Sofuoglu led from the off,
closely followed by Pitt. However, Curtain and Riba soon caught
up as the four swapped places numerous times in a thrilling
display of inch-perfect riding.
On lap nine, misfortune struck for three of the front runners
as Riba crashed out taking Curtain and Katsuaki Fujiwara with
him. This left the way open for the two HANNspree Ten Kate
Honda riders to slip into the first and second positions.
The pair maintained station for the next 13 laps with Sofuoglu
holding an impressive lead of over 3 seconds.
Only on the final lap did third place rider Gianluca Nannelli
make a convincing attack on Pitt. The Spanish rider passed
the Australian for a nail-biting few seconds before Pitt snatched
it back and crossed the finish 4.911 seconds after first place
Sofuoglu. The Turkish rider's third race win of the year means
that HANNspree Ten Kate Honda maintains it series lead going
into the team's home race in Assen in two weeks time.
Ronald ten Kate, Team Manager:
"This was a very hectic and eventful race for the Supersport
guys today. We were lucky that Kenan took an early lead and
broke away from the battling group behind. Andrew was in the
group battling for second and he was hanging in really well.
When the three riders went down we were in a perfect position
for first and second, which the riders delivered to us. I
have to give big compliments again to Kenan who rode yet another
mature race by keeping his head and not getting stressed.
Andrew has given us the perfect gift to reward the team for
the ride - he has just shown his capabilities as a rider.
The result is just perfect, I couldn't have asked for more."
Kenan Sofuoglu:
"I'm really happy. The dry conditions definitely helped
me to get to the podium. For me it is important to stay in
a good position for the whole race. When the three riders
went down, I knew that I had at least a three second lead
didn't have to push to hard. I tried to maintain the same
gap without going too fast as when there is no-one to threaten
you there is no need. I could see on my board that the gap
was staying the same so I knew there was no-one closing in
to make me push harder. Anyway, I am really happy about the
win. I want to thank my team for working so hard. They always
give me the best and I like to give my best back."
Andrew Pitt:
"I'm really happy that I have been able to do the job
for the HANNspree Ten Kate Honda team and help them out when
they needed it. It was a bit of a lottery going into the race
in the dry when we had done so many laps in the wet. We used
a softer front tyre, which gave me a couple of problems towards
the end but I tried hard to bring it home and get on the podium.
I want to thank Ronald and Gerrit for giving me the opportunity.
The guys have been great all weekend and coming into a team
that has won the World Supersport Championship for the last
five years makes my job a lot easier. It's just amazing, they
are so easy to work with. I'm happy - very happy!"
Race results:
1 K. Sofuolgu 1'38.651
2 A. Pitt + 4.911
3 G. Nannelli + 5.200
4 F. Foret + 5.619
5 B. Parkes + 12.776
6 D. Salom + 14.913
7 M. Roccoli + 16.178
8 J. Lascorz + 25.356
9 V. Kallio + 28.454
10 C. Jones + 29.885
FL K. Fujiwara 1'37.570
Championship standings:
1 K. Sofuoglu 95
2 F. Foret 51
3 K. Fujiwara 43
4 R. Harms 39
5 G. Nannelli 30
6 B. Parkes 27
7 M. Roccoli 26
8 K. Curtain 25
9 C. Jones 25
10 P. Riba 22
16 S. Charpentier 13
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