World Supersport Championship underway with another Ten Kate Honda win

It was a successful day all round for the Winston Ten Kate Honda team. Charpentier took a new lap record of 2'03.921, having set pole with a 2'03.093 and ther team’s newest Supersport recruit, Turkish rider Kenan Sofuoglu, score a podium in his first Honda CBR600RR Supersport ride, taking a safe third after challenging for the lead in the first few laps and frightening Curtain with some wild riding in the early stages.

Curtain rode a cautious race on the Yamaha Motor Germany YZF-R6to take the flag behind Charpentier. Despite having only had 90 minutes dry weather practice at the circuit, Curtain was able to run under lap record pace to start the season with 20 valuable points.

Curtain was able to break away from his young Turkish opponent, running several laps on record pace to close right up with the champion. But Charpentier was able to increase his pace and build a gap over Curtain, who decided discretion was the better part of valour. Unsure of the endurance of his front tyre, he decided to bring his R6 home in a safe second place, five seconds behind Charpentier but a similar distance ahead of third placed Sofuoglu.

“We’re not that far off for the first time in a race with the new bike,” said Curtain. “We have a little bit to go yet but I’m really happy we can just about match them, especially in top speed. It was close but not close enough. Sebastien ran a fast race today, and the opposition has shown that they are still strong this year. But I am happy that the new R6 has performed this well this quickly so it can only get even better. We didn’t have much time in the dry and I wasn’t sure if the front tyre could last the distance. In the end it was fine but I didn’t want to risk a DNF at this stage. Now it’s off to Phillip Island, where we’ve already tested and have a good set-up, so that’s something to look forward to.”

For Charpentier the race, conducted at a high pace throughout, was a vindication of not only his machine, but the preparations of his team in pre-season. "In testing in December we made a lot of improvements and set some good times here in Qatar," said the 2005 champion. "We pushed very hard for many laps, and today we did 2'04s consistently, with some 2'03s, so I am very pleased about that. It improved on last year and proved to us that we have many possibilities this year. I felt very comfortable on the bike and we are in a good condition. Kenan did very well; he is young and hungry to finish on the podium so it's perfect for me. You need a fast rider in your team to compare yourself against."

Sofuoglu, fast from first to last this weekend, raced with a maturity in the final few laps, taking an outstanding podium in his first ride for his new team. "I am very happy with this result, even after we knew would could be fast after the pole time I set," said the charging Kenan, who played it safe towards the end. "I ran in the first group in the race, and even though it was very difficult in the first laps, I knew I could go with them. After ten laps I was in third position and I realised that I had to keep the podium, so I stopped trying to challenge Kevin Curtain for second. This is a good result for us and thanks to the team for providing me with such a fast bike. The bike is completely different from my 2005 Superstock machine, there are many things you can change in Supersport, and more you can do with suspension."

The seat on the second Ten Kate Honda which was taken by Sofuoglu was last year held by Japanese star Katsuaki Fujiwara who this year swapped to the Team Megabike Honda CBR600RR. Fujiwara was fully in contention in the early stages, as he led off the line before being swamped by Charpentier's pace. He was to fall at high speed on lap five, breaking a scaphoid bone in his wrist and will now miss the Phillip Island round in Australia. Yoann Tiberio (Megabike Honda CBR600RR) was forced to miss the Qatar race in its entirety after suffering a cycling injury, but is heading of to Australia, hoping to be fit in time.

Fujiwara was firmly on course for a strong finish after a fourth place qualifying, but his crash stopped not only his race, but his ambitions for the next round in Australia. "It's a shame for this to happen, not only crashing out but losing the chance to race in Australia," said Fujiwara. "I am going home to Japan now to have an operation to pin my wrist, so it should be OK for the Valencia round."

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