Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/550811
WORLD SUPERBIKE WORLD SUPERBIKE CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND 10/AUGUST 2, 2015 SEPANG INTERNATIONAL CIRCUIT/SEPANG, MALAYSIA P76 CAPTAIN AMERICA SCORES FIRST WIN No other American rider had won a World Super- sport race until Sepang 2015, but after only three rides on the Core" Mo- torsport Thailand Honda, Patrick Jacobsen took a top drawer win, under extreme pressure from behind almost all race. He led every lap and in the end was .091 of a sec- ond ahead of MV Agusta Reparto Corse's Jules Cluzel after the obligatory final corner attack from Cluzel. In going in too hot the final corner to defend into his lead without tucking the front, Jacobsen was in the best "wrong" position for a drive to the flag as Cluzel was even more off line. The margin of victory was exactly the same— .091 of a second—as in the second Superbike race, which will make Jacob- sen's career-first and American rider first win all the more memorable. The Core" Motorsport Thailand team won in their native Thailand (with former rider Ratthapark Wilairot) and in a return to Asia they triumphed again. Asia is the way forward for many manufacturers and this cannot help but lift in- terest in World Supersport racing in the region. "The feeling I have with this Honda is amazing," Jacobsen said. "I was on plus seven on the traction control at the end, really using the edge of my tire and I didn't think I had too much more to come. That was it, the limit, but the Core" Motorsport Thai- land Honda was working fabulously today. I hope it goes in the record books, and there is an American back on the top of a World Championship podium. Hopefully it raises some eyebrows. If you want to win the championship you have to win these races and I just came out here to win the race." Kenan Sofuoglu was also out to win the race but found conditions too bumpy for his bike and had grip loss in the rear as he entered corners. He was fourth, behind a rider who did a smash and grab on the podium after riding behind and with Sofuoglu for most of the race—Clu- zel's teammate Lorenzo Zanetti. In the championship, Cluzel moved to within 13 tantalizing points of Sofuoglu, 168 to 153, with Jacobsen also a closer 28 behind Sofuoglu. Zanetti is fourth, 55 points behind. Jacobsen's win in Sepang also marked the first win for an American in the championship. PJ Jacobsen (99) held off World Supersport points leader Jules Cluzel (16) to take home his first career win in the series.