Two New 2009 Hondas On The Podium In Spain

In round three of the World Supersport Championships, Kenan Sofuoglu (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda CBR600RR) finished the race third after starting the race 11th on the grid, and his podium finish puts him on a class-leading total of 54 points, shared with Valencia race winner, Cal Crutchlow.

Sofuoglu had to work hard for his points and podium finish today, as his team used their 2009 spec Hondas for the first time at this race meeting, having started the season on 2008 machinery, which was more familiar to them.

Best-placed Honda rider in the Valencia WSS race was Anthony West (Stiggy Racing Honda CBR600RR) who qualified third and finished second having led the race for 13 of its 23-lap distance. He is now one of three Honda riders tied on 43 points, in joint third place. The others are Qatar race winner Eugene Laverty (Parkalgar Honda CBR600RR) and reigning champion, Andrew Pitt (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda CBR600RR).

Laverty battled through from 13th in qualifying and 16th place on lap one, as he rode with care on a damp track, in a race that was delayed to ensure that the short fall of light rain that started soon after WSB race one would pass by before the start of track action. The race was declared dry, albeit started in slightly damp track conditions, which made all the riders more cautious than usual in the early laps. Laverty went ninth in the race itself.

For Pitt, the move to his new machinery did not go as smoothly as he expected, and he crashed three times in the new single qualifying session, on Saturday. He started the race ninth on the grid, on row three, and could only finish 13th, scoring only three points.

Mark Aitchison (Honda Althea CBR600RR) was a season best fourth in the race, his team-mate Matthieu Lagrive (Honda Althea CBR600RR) sixth, as the pairing started the races from row two of the grid. In the championship, Lagrive has 25 points in sixth place; Aitchison has 24 points in seventh overall. Six of the top seven machines in the riders’ rankings are Hondas, and Honda leads Yamaha by 16 points in the Manufacturers’ Championship after three rounds.

Gianluca Vizziello (Stiggy Racing Honda CBR600RR) was 11th and satisfied with it after some set-up issues initially appeared in qualifying, Robbin Harms finished 12th on the Veidec Racing Honda with teammate Arie Vos 17th while Miguel Praia (Parkalgar Honda CBR600RR) was out of the points in 18th, the last rider not to be lapped.

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