It was with a one point lead in the provisional ranking of the Supersport World Championship that Lucas Mahias preceded Kenan Sofuoglu arriving at the Portuguese circuit of Portimao for the tenth round of the world championship. The fight between the two leaders continued during the qualifying session, with a very small advantage for the Turk and his Kawasaki ahead of the Frenchman on the Yamaha.
It was at the very end of the session that Sofuoglu (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) won with a time of 1'45.541. He managed to beat Lucas Mahias (GRT Yamaha Official WorldSSP Team), PJ Jacobsen (MV Agusta Reparto Corse), Sheridan Morais (Kallio Racing) and Jules Cluzel (CIA Landlord Insurance Honda).
According to Lucas Mahias, who are " I'm really happy, qualifying went well. It's a bit of a surprise for me, because I didn't have confidence at the start of the weekend and my times weren't fast and consistent enough. But I'm satisfied, I worked hard with my mechanics to improve the bike. We changed many parts as well as many of our settings. For qualifying, the machine was completely different. I'm expecting a close race on Sunday, but it's good for the fans and the public, but for the drivers it's a different story! »
For Jules cluzel, “I could attack like crazy because I felt comfortable on the bike. I knew the grip was there, so I had to have good speed on the corner, brake late and do what I like to do, but I made a little mistake in turn 8. Several times yesterday I I was a little wide, but I was able to come back with the front brake, but at that moment I was faster and it was too much. I'm a little disappointed because I wanted to show the other drivers that I'll be there tomorrow... and I need a watch! We could take pole position quite easily, but in the end we got gravel. Sorry for the team and my mechanics who deserved pole position. We know that tomorrow will be more important and we must keep in mind that our goal is to win our first race of the year. Tomorrow I have to be ready, focused and thinking about winning this race. »
The race will take place this Sunday at 11:30 a.m. The last three rounds of the Championship will take place at Magny-Cours on October 1, Jerez on October 22, and Doha on November 4.
Qualification ranking:
- Kenan Sofuoglu TUR Kawasaki Puccetti Racing ZX-6R 1'45.541
- Lucas Mahias FRA GRT Yamaha YZF-R6 1'45.576
- PJ Jacobsen USA MV Agusta Reparto Corse F3 675 1'45.591
- Sheridan Morais RSA Kallio Racing Yamaha YZF-R6 1'45.688
- Jules Cluzel FRA CIA Landlord Insurance Honda CBR600RR 1'45.906
- Niki Tuuli FIN Kallio Racing Yamaha YZF-R6 1'45.970
- Federico Caricasulo ITA GRT Yamaha YZF-R6 1'46.365
- Luke Stapleford GBR Profile Racing Triumph Daytona 675 1'46.638
- Gino Rea GBR Team Go Eleven Kawasaki ZX-6R 1'46.731
- Christian Gamarino ITA Bardahl Evan Bros Honda CBR600RR 1'46.867
- Christoffer Bergman SWE CIA Landlord Insurance Honda CBR600RR 1'47.262
- Michael Canducci ITA Puccetti Junior Team Kawasaki ZX-6R 1'47.408
Photos © Yamaha and PTR
