VOL. 52 ISSUE 40 OCTOBER 6, 2015 P39
day, Sykes laid down a strong
marker out front but had a tough
exchange with Rea before his
teammate pushed inside at the
hairpin, and Sykes was "eased"
wide, visibly displeased as he
could not get back to the race line
in time to make a new challenge.
In a wet race, in front of a
French crowd, the 2014 cham-
pion Sylvain Guintoli got a relief
and joy-filled third place in race
one, making up for a year of
mostly pain and frustration.
Michael van der Mark was
fourth for Pata Honda, while
Leon Camier and his MV Agusta
had a season best ride for his
manufacturer and himself, fifth
and beating multi-time winner
Chaz Davies.
Davies was the beneficiary of
Rea's first-race pass on Sykes
as the Welshman and English-
man are now grappling for sec-
ond in the overall title race.
It was to go Davies' way prop-
erly in race two, to his surprise
in some regards.
He finished second behind
Rea in a largely dry race two,
which went all 21 laps. Sykes
was third.
"I came in here with the
mindset that Tom has always
been good here and he has had
a good history," said Davies. "I
thought he was going to close
the best part of the 22 points I
had over him, so going home
with 16 is a bit of a win."
Rea was easily the big winner
again, slowing up to take the ad-
vantage of 2.8 seconds in race
two from Davies, Sykes, Van der
Mark and Leon Haslam.
The final round takes place at
Losail in Qatar on October 18.CN
SOFUOGLU CLINCHES
I
n taking second place at the penultimate round
of the World Supersport Series, Kenan Sofuog-
lu, on his Kawasaki Puccetti Racing machine, did
enough to win the championship, even though his
only remaining rival, American Patrick Jacobsen,
on the Core" Motorsport Thailand Honda, won the
race. This is Sofuoglu's fourth title.
It was the most difficult for him in many regards.
His son, Hamza, was born and then died of the
effects of a stroke during the season. Sofuoglu
dedicated his win to Hamza and praised his team
for giving him a bike he could finally win the title
with one round early.
"We came here to get the title, not to win the
race," said Sofuoglu. "That was most important
for us."
The race had two parts, only one of which
counted.
Sofuoglu was leading the first attempt after
a lightning start. Seeing his only rival pushed
wide and down to fifth, the Turkish rider was
well on his way to the race and championship
win—until a red flag caused a further delay to an
already late start.
The Honda of Kevin Manfredi was blowing oil
and the race was stopped, with Jacobsen up
to second but over five seconds behind at the
red flag.
The 11-lap restart, with full points, was called
and Jacobsen led after a few corners, Sofuoglu
was second and Lucas Mahias third.
Gordon Richie
Kenen Sofuoglu won the World Supersport
title after an emotional year.
