VOL. 52 ISSUE 8 FEBRUARY 24, 2015 P93
more. So his crash in race two,
a slip that led to a no–score,
could be put down to inexperi-
ence at this especially brutal cir-
cuit on the left side of the tires.
Same could be said for the
charging Jordi Torres who
looked set to overshadow his
teammate Haslam at stages this
Briefly...
brae, one a compression fraction
and one a torsional one. Ruled out
for 90 days, Ducati Corse's Paolo
Ciabatti confirmed that after another
medical check was made in Italy
decisions about replacement riders
would be made. "Davide is going to
be checked by our doctors at home,
not because we do not trust the doc-
tors here, but just to be confirm. It is
unfortunate what has happened, but
if it is 90 days off the bike it is 90
days," said Ciabatti. Possible num-
ber one to take over the ride during
that period is Ducati test rider Mi-
chele Pirro.
The crash and injury count at Phil-
lip Island in practice and qualifying
was its usual high level, with Roman
Ramos, David Salom, Troy Bayliss,
Sylvain Guintoli and a host of others
all having big falls, usually on the big-
ger, faster, corners.
injured former Moto2 runner Gino
Rea (who had surgery only a few days
before to remove a screw from his
broken right foot) and new Pata Honda
signing, Englishman Kyle Smith.
They were eight seconds behind
the win and Rea held of Smith by the
merest fraction—.032 of a second.
With Thailand the next round,
CORE Motorsport Thailand Honda's
Ratthapark Wilairot chose a good
time to challenge early leader Cluzel
and show some pace, but he had to
drop back as his rear tire started to
overheat, and he suffered another
small technical glitch. In fifth place,
this was a good display from a small,
new team.
Sofuoglu in a fuming sixth won the
last-lap battle with Alex Baldolini's
MV and Team Lorini
Honda's Roby Rolfo
with all three crossing
the line together.
Team Go Eleven
Kawasaki's Dominic
Schmitter was impres-
sive in his first World
Supersport run of
the year in ninth. And
rounding out the top 10
was American PJ Ja-
cobsen on the Intermoto Ponyexpres
Kawasaki.
One round in and several real po-
tential winners already for a class that
has been shaken nearly as much as
the World Superbike version, in terms
of rider line ups.
Cluzel and Sofuoglu have some
competition in waiting.
At the next round, Buriram in
Thailand, it is a novelty for all, which
should only add to the unpredictability
of it all.
(Left to right) Lorenzo Zanetti, Jules
Cluzel and Gino Rea top the World
Supersport podium.
(Above) Rookie Michael van der
Mark had an impressive debut,
leading race two for five laps, but
unfortunately ended up in the
grass a while later.
(Left) It was a battle royale
between these three Brits in both
races—Haslam (91), Rea (65) and
Chaz Davies (hidden).
continued on next page
