@Pata @Honda #rider Kyle Smith was unable to repeat his podium exploits of the previous two outings after crashing out of the fifth-round World Supersport race which was won by Kenan Sofuoglu at Imola in Italy this afternoon.
Starting from tenth place on the grid after suffering front-end grip problems during practice and qualifying, Smith, 23, got a reasonable start in this afternoon’s 17-lap encounter at the 4.936km Autodromo Internazionale Enzo e Dino Ferrari in Imola.
However, Smith crashed out of eighth place at the tight turn seven on the third lap of the race before rejoining in last position. He fought back past a number of other riders before running out of laps in fifteenth place for a solitary point, which drops him to sixth place in the overall standings.
The British rider, who was brought up in Spain, heads back to the land of his birth for round six at Donington Park in two weeks’ time where he will be seeking to put his Pata Honda CBR600RR back on the World Supersport podium.
Kyle Smith - 15th
It’s been an eventful weekend and I’ve been struggling for grip and to get a good front-end feeling on the bike. But this morning’s warm-up was the best session all weekend. We were still a little off the pace but I thought that if I could hold the rhythm, I might be able to fight for a top five and some valuable points for the season. We made no changes to the bike but I think the track temperature was around 20 degrees hotter compared to warm-up. Suddenly I had no feeling again in the front and not much grip. It washed out at the beginning of the race but I managed to get back on and rejoin. I was dead last and about 20 seconds off the guy in front of me and I still had no feeling in the front. I was around a second slower than I was in warm-up, but every point counts so you’ve got to look on th e bright side!
Pieter Breddels - technical co-ordinator
We had a good warm-up this morning and were feeling quite confident to move into the top five in the race. Unfortunately, Kyle crashed out so that didn’t happen. He lost the front and, to be honest, we’ve been struggling with the front all weekend and, with the higher temperatures this afternoon, we just had no grip from the front tyre that was available. It’s been a hard weekend but we’ll try to fight back at Donington.
Weather
Sunny Intervals
Air
26°C
Track
41°C
Humidity
38%
Race Results - 17 laps
1 Kenan Sofuoglu 31m38.539s TUR KAWASAKI Kawasaki Puccetti Racing
2 Jules Cluzel +0.883s FRA MV MV Agusta Reparto Corse
3 Lorenzo Zanetti +9.624s ITA MV MV Agusta Reparto Corse
4 Patrick Jacobson +11.116s USA KAWASAKI Kawasaki Intermoto Ponyexpres
5 Marco Faccani +14.327s ITA KAWASAKI Kawasaki Puccetti Racing
6 Ratthapark Wilairot +29.276s THA HONDA CORE Motorsport Thailand
7 Gino Rea +29.760s GBR HONDA CIA Landlords Insurance Honda
8 Riccardo Russo +30.745s ITA HONDA CIA Landlords Insurance Honda
9 Martin Cardenas +36.262s COL HONDA CIA Landlords Insurance Honda
10 Roberto Rolfo +37.478s ITA HONDA Team Lorini
15 Kyle Smith GBR HONDA Pata Honda World Supersport Team
Championship Standings
1 Kenan Sofuoglu 105 pts TUR KAWASAKI Kawasaki Puccetti Racing
2 Patrick Jacobson 68 pts USA KAWASAKI Kawasaki Intermoto Ponyexpres
3 Jules Cluzel 65 pts FRA MV MV Agusta Reparto Corse
4 Lorenzo Zanetti 57 pts ITA MV MV Agusta Reparto Corse
5 Ratthapark Wilairot 46 pts THA HONDA CORE Motorsport Thailand
6 Kyle Smith 46 pts GBR HONDA Pata Honda World Supersport Team
7 Gino Rea 46 pts GBR HONDA CIA Landlords Insurance Honda
8 Roberto Rolfo 41 pts ITA HONDA Team Lorini
9 Alex Baldolini 33 pts ITA MV Race Department ATK#25
10 Marco Faccani 32 pts ITA KAWASAKI Kawasaki Puccetti Racing
