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HANNspree Ten Kate Honda>> Sofuoglu and Pitt seek Italian success

June 19 2009

Ten Kate Racing - Nieuwsbrief

Kenan Sofuoglu and Andrew Pitt head to Misano, Italy this weekend (19-21 June) for round eight of the 2009 World Supersport championship, seeking further success on their Hannspree Ten Kate Honda CBR600RRs.

Their last outing at Miller Motorsports Park near Salt Lake City, USA, demonstrated the hard work that their respective crews have put in recently in developing the 2009 version of Honda’s perennial CBR middleweight sports bike.

Sofuoglu won in America in dramatic style with a stunning last lap that included audacious passes on series leader Cal Crutchlow and Honda-mounted race leader, Eugene Laverty. It was Sofuoglu’s second win of the season and enhanced his hold on third place in the championship.

Andrew Pitt, meanwhile, was forced to start from the last row of the grid at Miller after crashing on the opening lap of the only qualifying session and being unable to set a time. Australia’s reigning World Supersport champion, however, demonstrated his own determination and skill as well as the prowess of his CBR by finishing in seventh place.

Set just inland from Italy’s Adriatic coast, Misano was first constructed in 1972 and underwent major modifications in 2007, including a reverse of direction. The 4.226km circuit is one of only six on the WSBK calendar that also hosts a MotoGP race.

Kenan Sofuoglu – championship position, 3rd
America was very important for me and the whole team, who have worked so hard since we received the 2009 CBR at Valencia. You could tell from the reaction of everybody what it meant to the team and I was so happy to be back on top of the podium. Of course, we still have a lot of work to do to make the bike always competitive and to give us the best chance of winning. Misano was not so good last year on the Superbike, but I was on the podium there on the Ten Kate CBR in 2007, so I will be trying my best to take another win this weekend.

Andrew Pitt – championship position, 4th
Misano’s been good to me in the past – in both directions – so I’m looking forward to getting back there. It’s going to be hot and hopefully that will be where all the training and all the kilometres on the bicycle pay off. Acceleration out of corners is something we still need to work on with the bike, but it’s been making real progress lately and that showed in America, despite the problem in qualifying. We need a little bit of luck on our side now and only race wins will do, so that’s what we’ll be aiming for from here on in.

Ronald ten Kate – team manager
Kenan’s win in America gave everyone in the team the breakthrough that we have been working and hoping for. Andrew’s seventh place from the back row of the grid also felt like a win and it showed that the developments we have made with the bike have been positive. We have tested in Magny-Cours this week, which has helped us to confirm the new base setting of the 2009 CBR and that will hopefully put both riders in a position to challenge for the win in Misano this weekend.

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.