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WORLD SUPERBIKE CHAMPIONSHIP VOL. 51 ISSUE 15 APRIL 15, 2014 P83 if obliquely, lifting Rea's front wheel off the ground - although it would be Giugliano who would fall. He would recover to finish eighth and Rea – the old moto- cross man that he is – just got on with it. The second race was a real scrap at the end, as first Baz and then Aprilia's Marco Melandri had a go at passing Sykes. Melandri's attempt was fairly desperate, with his rear wheel off the ground, but he decided to run on rather than create a crash he did not need after finishing only 11th in race one. Briefly... and if I can get somewhere close I won't be doing too bad." The rider injury list from the Phillip Island test and race weekend was vast, with seven riders injured in that period. And six had to show up to SOFUOGLU COLLECTS AS RIVALS COLLIDE If Kenan Sofuoglu was lucky to win the Motorland Aragon race on his Mahi Racing Team India Kawasaki then at least he worked for it. With an engine blowing on the first day of practice he was behind the new top-shelf dynamic that is affecting World Supersport racing in 2014. He recovered his bike's poise and his own desire and ability to win in the 15-lap race, but he had to work hard in sixth place for a long time, waiting for the inevitable crash to happen. It finally did and he was left with a clear track and an eventual winning advantage of .869 seconds over second-place man Michel van Der Mark on the Pata Honda. "I found out my real speed this morning in the warm up. I knew I would be ready to fight in the race," Sofuog- lu said. "When we started the race everybody was doing incredible attacks under braking. Going into the hairpin I watched them and I was just scared, so I took it easy. Before reaching the last five laps I thought I would wait because I thought somebody would crash with all the big overtakes going on. When it did not happen and we got to the last five laps, I thought I should go. Then one of them made a mistake, which I was expecting. When two of them collided and crashed it made it easier for me as I did not have to pass them and I could control the race. Thanks to everybody who helped me to win today because I really needed it." Van Der Mark was just unable to match Sofuoglu, but he was trying his hardest and, unlike in Australia, not trying too hard. "It was a real tough weekend to be honest," he said. "In practice we were not hard enough, but we did a lot of thinking and the guys in the garage worked so hard to find a solution because we had some strange issues. This morning in warm up I showed that the race pace we had was quite good so we would be all right." Both Sofuoglu and van Der Mark fell in the first race of the year in Australia, but it was the turn of Aussie race 1-2 combina- tion, Jules Cluzel (MV Agusta Yakh- nich) and Kev Coghlan (DMC Panavto Yamaha), to tumble this time around. Frenchman Cluzel, evidently des- perate to stay in contact, tried to pass inside Scot Coghlan, but all he did was hit the Yamaha rider's rear wheel hard and knock them both off at the last hairpin before the finish complex on lap 12. Coghlan was more equitable than many imagined a short while after the race finished. With a championship lead despite his issue he could afford to be magnani- mous. "I am fine after the fall and I was comfortable all race" said Coghlan. "I paced myself and saw what the other guys were up to, so when I saw van Der Mark running a bit wide I had an opportunity to push on a bit. The lap before the crash Jules came up inside me and it felt like he made a bit of a lunge. Obviously, the next lap it was like having to push too much from what I have seen on TV. It is a stupid move, but I am not going to cry about it. We are leading the championship and managed to finish the race. It could have been a lot worse and we could have come away with any points at all. We have shown how strong we are this weekend and hopefully that is something to come for the future. We had a proper race here and showed we are as strong as anyone." Kawasaki Intermoto Ponyexpres's Florian Marino took a podium in third place. Kenan Sofuoglu (54) battles with Michael van Der Mark (60) en route to winning the World Supersport race. continued on next page