IN
THE
WIND
P44
that possibility. The new bike is
a small step better but that is all
you need at this level. It was a
good race but I would have liked
to have taken it to the end and
had a nice fight."
It was a red flag, not a check-
ered one, that ended the 19-lap
race. Kenan Sofuoglu (Kawasaki
Puccetti Racing) went through
on new leader at that stage,
Federico Caricasulo (Yamaha
World Supersport), and as they
jousted for position and Carica-
sulo tried to brake and turn into
turn three and fell. His spinning
bike missed Sofuoglu, but col-
lected his own teammate Lucas
Mahias. Caricasulo took a nasty
looking hit on the head and neck
area from his rival's front wheel.
He went limp as he fell and the
red flags came out quickly, with
the finish declared and taken
back to before the crash.
With Mahias able to get back
to the pits in time after restarting,
the result was given from lap 16,
which made Morais the winner,
Sofuoglu second and Mahias
third.
It was an over-dramatic and
initially worrying end to a great
race. Caricasulo was up and
about in no time but Jules Cluzel
(CIA Landlords Insurance Honda)
was fizzing with frustration at los-
ing his chance of a podium. He
had to settle for fourth.
For American PJ Jacobsen,
it was another frustrating race
with an early retirement on the
Reparto Corse MV Agusta.
"Saturday wasn't a good day
for us and I couldn't lap as I have
been able to over the season,"
he said. "The race didn't start
off too good for us. I had a few
problems and in the end I had
to pull out of the race because
of an electronic issue with my
bike."
In the championship—only on
round eight now as WorldSSP
did not join the Superbikes at
Laguna Seca, as usual—Mahias
leads Sofuoglu by one point,
121 to 120. Morais has 101 and
Cluzel not quite out of it entirely
with four rounds to go, with 88
points.
Gordon Ritchie
Morais (32) was
a worthy winner
after Caricasulo
(64) went
tumbling with
two laps to go.
