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HANNspree Ten Kate>> Sofuoglu and Pitt work for top ten

July 29 2009

Ten Kate Racing - Nieuwsbrief

Hannspree Ten Kate Honda riders, Kenan Sofuoglu and Andrew Pitt, finished in ninth and tenth places respectively today in round ten of the World Supersport championship at Brno in the Czech Republic.

It was a frustrating finish to a difficult weekend in which both riders struggled during practice and yesterday’s qualifying session. Sofuoglu started the 18-lap race around the undulating 5.4km Brno circuit in 14th place, with his team-mate a further ten places back on the grid.

Despite strong starts from both riders, neither was able to press further in the latter stages of the race, which was won by Frenchman Fabien Foret after series leader, Cal Crutchlow, retired from the lead with two laps to go.

Kenan Sofuoglu -  9th
It was very disappointing to finish in ninth because we all felt that we had made a big step forward after qualifying badly yesterday. We continued with the direction we found for warm-up this morning and everything felt fine. But then, in the race, with the same bike, same tyres, same everything, it felt like a different machine. I had grip issues from about lap four and the engine felt different, too. We have some more work to do before the next round in Germany.

Andrew Pitt – 10th
Considering where I started on the grid, I suppose that picking up some points was about all we could have hoped for. But we’re here to do more than collect a few points. I struggled for power and ended up in a bit of a battle with Barry Veneman who is riding my bike from last year. Hopefully, the extended break will give the guys a chance to look at everything in the calm atmosphere of the workshop and we’ll aim to come out fighting again at Nurburgring in September.

Ronald ten Kate – team manager
After the problems that both riders suffered during yesterday’s qualifying, we really thought we had found something better for the race. This was confirmed after warm-up this morning but, for some reason, the feeling has changed between the end of warm-up and the start of the race. It’s frustrating for everyone and we’ll be doing everything we can to sort these problems out in the time that we have before the next race.

2009 World Supersport championship,
round ten – Brno, Czech Republic (5.403km, 18 laps) results:
1 Fabien Foret (FRA) Yamaha 37’14.367s
2 Anthony West (AUS) Honda +0.148s
3 Joan Lascorz (ESP) Kawasaki +0.289
4 Katsuaki Fujiwara (JPN) Kawasaki +04.00
5 Eugene Laverty (IRL) Honda +6.823
9 Kenan Sofuoglu (TUR) Hannspree Ten Kate Honda +18.592
10 Andrew Pitt (AUS) Hannspree Ten Kate Honda +29.679

Championship points after 10 of 14 rounds:
Crutchlow 185, Laverty 168, Sofuoglu 128, Lascorz 122, West 95, Foret 88, Pitt 85, Garry McCoy (AUS) Triumph 63, Mark Aitchison (AUS) Honda 61, Fujiwara 52

Next round: Nurburgrung, Germany – 6 September

HANNspree Ten Kate Honda is sponsored by Hotbodies Racing and uses our windscreens and bodywork on all of their bikes. Hotbodies Racing specializes in manufacturing high-performance parts for high-performance sportbikes, and is the North American distribution of KR Tuned performance parts. Hotbodies Racing is the market leader in Undertails, Huggers, Windscreens, Flush-Mount Signals, Megaphone Exhausts and full-race Bodywork. Hotbodies Racing supports the sport with sponsorship around the world and encourages dealer and distributor inquiries. For more information visit: www.HOTBODIESRACING.com.