Kenan Sofuoglu (Winston Ten Kate Honda) continued his recent run of sparkling form to post the fastest time in the opening qualifying session at Brands Hatch, with World Championship leader Sebastien Charpentier (Winston Ten Kate Honda) proving he is back to near full fitness, by setting the third fastest lap of the first day.
Sofuoglu was less than three tenths away from the previous best Supersport lap at Brands Hatch, as he goes for his first pole position performance in his rookie season of full-time World Supersport competition. Charpentier, still recovering from pelvic and collarbone injuries has nonetheless impressive at one of his favourite circuits, and is only 0.105 seconds from his younger team-mate’s best lap.
Each Winston Ten Kate rider will have one more chance to improve their times still further, in the final qualifying session on Saturday afternoon.
Ronald Ten Kate – Team Manager“A very good start of the weekend for us in Supersport, and it is particularly nice to see Kenan on top of the sheets. It shows that he is picking up his form now, and although we are still in the first days, it is good that he is in the front already. For Sebastien, we are really moving forwards, and we say thanks to his leather supplier Spidi, who made a new suit for him here, which allows him more freedom to move his midsection. He feels a lot more comfortable on the bike and is building up more speed lap-by-lap. We are aiming for good grid positions tomorrow.”
Kenan Sofuoglu – Winston Ten Kate Honda Rider“It has been a great first day, very good for the team. It will be enough on this weekend to finish on the front row after qualifying, but of course I would prefer to be on pole. From the front row we will be ready for the race on Sunday. I am still learning the track on the 600, and it is a little bit strange for me right now but it feels good and I am really ready for this weekend.”
Sebastien Charpentier – Winston Ten Kate Honda Rider “For the first day it’s not bad and everyone is really close. It has been very quick, immediately, for everyone in the top five. The bike is not really set-up perfectly at the moment, but we will keep working after the session to start off tomorrow with the bike in even better condition. I am happy with the tyres we have used and the weather is not too hot. I’m OK, I just have a little bit of a problem in the left-hand corners still, but it is loosening up with every lap.”
Qualifying 1: 1. Sofuoglu - Winston Ten Kate Honda - 1'28.634
2. Curtain - Yamaha - 1'28.674
3. Charpentier - Winston Ten Kate Honda - 1'28.739
4. Crutchlow - Honda - 1'28.792
5. Parkes - Yamaha - 1'28.948
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