[Supersport] Exclusive interview with Jules Cluzel “Give your best from the first to the last lap”

After his victories at Assen and Imola this year, Jules won again on Sunday at Brno, despite fierce resistance from Sandro Cortese. At 29, the native of Montluçon won his fifteenth victory in the Supersport World Championship, without forgetting first place at Silverstone in 2010 in GP Moto2, nor second in World Superbike with Suzuki in 2013.

Jules, first of all you achieved the third time in the Superpole in Brno, 0.05 behind second Randy Krummenacher, but on the other hand Sandro Cortese had achieved the best time with a 0.6 lead. Did this worry you?

" Yes still. This worried me even more since I had had the perfect weekend until then. Before the Superpole, we were in front during almost all the practice sessions and we were progressing. We made a modification for Superpole, while the track continued to heat up like the other afternoons, which complicated things.

“In the end I wasn't able to do a good qualification and that gave me a bit of doubt. It took away slightly the confidence we had built over the weekend. The significant change we had made could also be the cause of these problems. »

Sandro Cortese attacked you from start to finish of the race. He was incisive, decisive and determined. How did you manage to resist him, especially at the end of the fairly lively race?

“It was a tense race for me from start to finish. My goal was to get a good start and place myself at the front, as I did in almost every race. I then gauged the pace, only to realize that it was slower than in all the tests. So I was a little in doubt, especially since we couldn't outrun the third (note: Raffaele de Rosa / MV Agusta). And that worried me because normally there was Sandro and me… and the rest.

“Finally Sandro attacked me, but I immediately managed to pass him without too much difficulty, which did me good. I had a lot of difficulty with traction coming out of corners, but on the other hand great strengths with braking and top speed. »

After the second race of this year, you occupied eleventh place in the Championship with 9 points, 36 behind Krummenacher. You are now 2 points behind first at the start of the second half-season. The end includes Misano, Portimao, Magny-Cours, Villicum (Argentina) and Losail. How do you envisage these races?

“I see them like the seven already done, that is to say as concentrated as possible, giving the maximum from the first to the last lap of each session to try to have as much confidence as possible.

“I think these circuits can suit me because we passed all the tracks where I had difficulties, or let's say those which were the least advantageous for me. I'm going to take the races one after the other. I really don't think about the Championship. I think first of all about having fun and performing as well as possible every weekend. »

Your NRT team is owned by Indian Vafi Khan, under the name Nerds Racing Team, based Warehouse No 5, Al-Asayal Street, Alquoz 3, Dubai, United Arab Emirates. He owns a motorcycle business called Motorcycle Nerds. Are you satisfied with this team?

“The results speak for themselves. I signed for this bike because I think it has a lot of advantages. We also have a very good engine manufacturer.

“I focus on myself, on being the best, on always being there. We had some difficulties at the start of the season, but then it turned out to be positive because from then on I started getting on the podiums all the time. »

We saw at the start of the Championship Lucas Mahias and Randy Krummenacher take command of the provisional classification, then you and Sandro Cortese come together and take the lead. Who do you see as your main opponent for the title?

“My start to the season was very complicated: we didn't do a single kilometer of testing with this bike. Even though it was a good bike and a worthy team, we realized after three months that we were not extra-terrestrials. It's not for nothing that the best teams do a lot of testing. We realized very quickly that there were lots of things that weren't going particularly well and that we needed to change.

“Too bad for Thailand, because despite the fact that things were going in the right direction, I had this little fall which cost me quite dearly today. But hey, I managed to catch up, which I'm happy with.

“Cortese is my main opponent – ​​he’s the one in the lead – but I don’t forget the others. But frankly I'm not thinking about the Championship. I want to give my maximum and we will see the result at the end. »

Photos and video clips © worldsbk.com / Dorna TV Videopass / Nerds Racing Team