Kawasaki’s Kenan SofuogluThe 16-lap World Supersport race at Motorland Aragon began Sunday under pristine race conditions in Spain. Returning to the top of the podium was Kawasaki Puccetti Racing’s Kenan Sofuoglu, the reigning WSS Champion. This was the Turkish rider’s first win of 2016; he crashed out of round one at Phillip Island, but redeemed himself with a second-place finish at round two in Thailand.But round three was Sofuoglu’s race; he earned the pole position by nearly a second ahead of teammate Randy Krummenacher, and showed no signs of slowing throughout the Aragon Supersport race.
Sofuoglu earned his 33rd career race win by 1.486 seconds ahead of Krummenacher, who earned his second podium finish in just three-career WSS races. Taking the final podium position was Schmidt Racing MV Agusta’s Nicol Terol.Following Aragon World Supersport, Sofuoglu said: “I wanted to lead and keep going because yesterday and the day before I had good pace. The team made incredible adjustments on the bike on Friday night and I was getting faster and faster.Kawasaki’s Randy Krummenacher“We did a good lap and took pole position in Superpole and in the race the goal was to make a good start and take the lead. When I saw a two second gap I said I should just keep a good pace.“On the last two or three laps the gap was getting closer. I just decided to keep the pace, take 25 points and the plan worked very well. Now, step-by-step, we are coming back in the championship and hopefully soon we can lead it.”Starting from pole, Sofuoglu got the holeshot followed by the only American in World Supersport racing, Honda World Supersport’s PJ Jacobsen. The Honda CBR600RR challenged, but lost the front end of his bike and crashed out. From there, Sofuoglu just rode with clear track ahead.As for Jacobsen, he wasn’t the only rider to crash; a turn-one incident caused for other few DNFs, including MV Agusta’s Robert Rolfo, Gino Rea and Wagner, along with Yamaha’s Ivanov, Honda’s Orellna, and Kawaski’s Licciardi. MV Agusta Reparto Corse’s Lorenzo Zanetti also suffered a DNF, but due to technical issues.MV Agusta’s Nicol TerolZanetti’s teammate Jules Cluzel, who won in Thailand, finished fourth, just ahead of the San Carlo Team Italia Kawasaki ZX-6R Ninja pilots Zaccone and Bassani. Rounding out the top 10 were Bardahl Evan Bros.Honda Racing’s Caricasulo, Orelac Racing VerdNatura Kawasaki’s Kzhairuddin, Gemar Balloons – Team Lorini Honda’s Wahr and Team GoEleven Kawasaki’s Gamarino.After three of 14 rounds, Krummenacher leads the World Supersport Championship with 58 points, 13 ahead of Sofuoglu, with Cluzel in third, 20 points behind.In the Manufacturers’ Championship, Kawasaki leads MV Agusta by 19 points. The 2016 World Supersport Championship breaks for two weeks ahead of Assen.
Hello everyone and welcome once again to Ultimate Motorcycling’s weekly Podcast—Motos and Friends.
My name is Arthur Coldwells.
This week’s Podcast is brought to you by Yamaha motorcycles. Discover how the YZF-R7 provides the perfect balance of rider comfort and true supersport performance by checking it out at YamahaMotorsports.com, or see it for yourself at your local dealer.
This week’s episode features Senior Editor Nic de Sena’s impressions of the beautiful new Harley-Davidson Low Rider ST that is loosely based around the original FXRT Sport Glide from the 1980s. Hailing from The Golden State, these cult-status performance machines became known as West Coast style, with sportier suspension, increased horsepower, and niceties including creature comforts such as a tidy fairing and sporty luggage.
In past episodes you might have heard us mention my best friend, Daniel Schoenewald, and in the second segment I chat with him about some of the really special machines in his 170 or so—and growing—motorcycle collection. He’s always said to me that he doesn’t consider himself the owner, merely the curator of the motorcycles for the next generation.
Yet Daniel is not just a collector, but I can attest a really skilled rider. His bikes are not trailer queens, they’re ridden, and they’re ridden pretty hard. Actually, we have had many, many memorable rides on pretty much all of the machines in the collection at one time or another.
From all of us here at Ultimate Motorcycling, we hope you enjoy this episode!
