RACE REPORT 27/09/2009 It was a bitter sweet Supersport race for the Yamaha team at Imola today, a hotly contested first ten laps were brought to an abrupt halt when Kawasaki rider Lascorz developed an engine fault, spraying oil across the track and across the front of Crutchlow's bike as he followed close behind in second place. The restart with just nine laps to go saw Crutchlow move quickly up to take Laverty and then Sofuoglu for the lead before a false neutral going into a fast right hander caused him to crash out, ending his race.
Team mate Foret was on form, grabbing fifth off the line from the restart then quickly passing Gary McCoy for fourth on the second lap. The French rider then kept up a fast consistent pace for the remaining laps, holding onto his position then getting an automatic move to third and a podium finish after team mate Crutchlow crashed out.
With two races remaining, Crutchlow heads to Magny Cours next week still leading the championship with a two point advantage over rival Eugene Laverty. Team mate Foret remains in fifth position, 23 points behind fourth position rider Joan Lascorz.
Fabien Foret, Yamaha World Supersport Team (3rd) "I'm really happy to be on the podium again. It's great to be back up near the front and taking points, it's really good for my head. I'm enjoying the racing and looking forward to racing at home next week. The team worked really hard this weekend so I want to thank them for everything." Cal Crutchlow, Yamaha World Supersport Team (DNF) "I'm really disappointed, we've lost 50 points over the year for two DNFs. It's nobody's fault, I hit a false neutral and went in way too fast and just couldn't stop. I couldn't get it round the corner and crashed. We still have a small lead though so we'll take it to Magny Cours and give it everything we've got."
Wilco Zeelenberg, Yamaha World Supersport Team Manager "Cal found four false neutrals after the restart so we need to check exactly what happened. Normally it can be ridden round but if you're in the wrong place and can't shift back then you run in too hot and are going to crash which is what happened. The championship is open again, he's leading by two points so he really has to fight for it at Magny Cours and Portimao. I was very happy for Fabien to get third and be on the podium, a great result for him. A disappointing result for us today but we haven't lost yet, well put our heads together this week before Magny Cours, Cal is still fast so we will work it out."
Circuit Length: 4959 Crowd: 67000 Weather: Hot Lap Record: 1'53.388 (Sebastien Charpentier, 01/01/2006) Fastest Lap Ever: 1'50.680 (Cal Crutchlow, 27/09/2009)
2009 WSS Italy - Imola 27/09/2009 Race 1 Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time 1 Kenan Sofuoglu Honda TUR 35'51.342 2 Eugene Laverty Honda GBR 0'05.372 3 Fabien Foret Yamaha FRA 0'06.450 PUIG SPONSORED 4 Chaz Davies Triumph GBR 0'15.847 5 Garry McCoy Triumph AUS 0'15.944 6 Andrew Pitt Honda AUS 0'16.001 7 Katsuaki Fujiwara Kawasaki JPN 0'27.097 8 Anthony West Honda AUS 0'27.835 9 Miguel Praia Honda POR 0'32.846 10 Danilo Dell'omo Honda ITA 0'33.315
Best Lap Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time Cal Crutchlow Yamaha GBR 1'51.645
RIDER STANDINGS 27/09/2009 Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Points 1. Cal Crutchlow Yamaha GBR 210 PUIG SPONSORED 2. Eugene Laverty Honda GBR 208 3. Kenan Sofuoglu Honda TUR 153 4. Joan Lascorz Kawasaki ESP 138 5. Fabien Foret Yamaha FRA 115 PUIG SPONSORED 6. Andrew Pitt Honda AUS 104 7. Anthony West Honda AUS 104 8. Garry McCoy Triumph AUS 82 9. Mark Aitchison Honda AUS 71 10. Massimo Roccoli Honda ITA 62
