2017 Misano World Supersport Race Results: Mechanical Issues For Sofuoglu

Thirty four riders, with Alex Baldolini not competing, started the race of nineteen laps around Misano. Kenan Sofuoglu had trouble at the start of the race with a malfunctioning t-shirt gun that required a change to manual launching, throwing by hand, to get the t-shirts to their intended targets.

Kenan Sofuoglu’s bike worked a lot better than his light clothing delivery vector, launching him to turn one in first place ahead of championship leader Lucas Mahias and Jules Cluzel. Federico Caricasulo squeezed past Cluzel for third place within a few corners but to put them to shame, Mahias and Sofuoglu swapped places three times in the first few corners. Mahias started the second lap in the lead but Sofuoglu ended it in first while PJ Jacobsen set the fastest lap in sixth place behind Christian Gamarino.

On lap three, on the tight right turn four, Lucas Mahias tried a tight line to try to keep up with Kenan Sofuoglu but the front wobbled slightly on entry and as he hit the ape, the front wheel tucked underneath itself and slid out, taking the rest of the bike with it. Mahias rejoined much further back but crashed out of the race four turns later.

Kenan Sofuoglu’s team told him that Mahias was out, but he later said that that didn’t change anything as he was focussed on the win. Sofuoglu had a few laps making a gap at the front, but once the gap got to a second, Federico Caricasulo in second place started closing, bringing a shrewd Jules Cluzel with him.

Once Caricasulo caught Sofuoglu, Cluzel nudged him aside and took second place behind his old rival. On lap eleven, Cluzel passed Sofuoglu who then took a look over his shoulder. Seeing Caricasulo almost a second behind him, he decided to observe Cluzel for a few laps instead of trying immediately to retake the lead. At the beginning of lap fourteen, Sofuoglu passed Cluzel into turn one and held the tighter line into turn two, holding off the Frenchman. Sofuoglu appeared to have a little bit more tyre grip in the front at this stage and, as the pair led Caricasulo by over three seconds on the penultimate lap, it was clear they were the only man fighting for victory.

On the penultimate lap, Jules Cluzel had an almost identical incident to Mahias’s crash, feeling the front tuck, but he was able to save it and just lose a few tenths of a second instead of his bike. He realised that he couldn’t match Sofuoglu without crashing and settled for second place, preferring it to crashing.

Kenan Sofuoglu won his fourth successive race and is now within five points of Lucas Mahias in the championship. Jules Cluzel’s second place brings him to within a single point of third-placed Sheridan Morais who finished the race in eighth place.

Federico Caricasulo’s third place leapfrogged him to sixth place in the championship behind PJ Jacobsen whose fourth place keeps him within seven points of Jules Cluzel.

World Supersport will not be racing at Laguna Seca, so everyone gets a long Summer break.

Results: