Kenan Sofuoglu pulled off an impressive World Supersport race victory in today’s ninth round at Brno in the Czech Republic, winning by one tenth of a second from fellow championship contender, Joan Lascorz.

Starting from the second row of the grid, Sofuoglu finished the first lap in seventh place as the third championship protagonist, Eugene Laverty, led proceedings. By lap three, Sofuoglu had passed Katsuaki Fujiwara and set about hunting down the leading group of riders.

“It was a very good race today and the bike felt fantastic, but it is really thanks to the hard work that my team did and the Clinica Mobile who looked after me this weekend. We had some real problems with the bike on Friday and yesterday, which led to a bad qualifying session for us and a start from the second row. We saw some potential when I tried two different bikes in warm-up this morning, which gave me the confidence that I needed,” said Sofuoglu.

On the sixth lap, Laverty developed a technical problem which forced his retirement as Sofuoglu went past fellow Honda-rider Gino Rea into third place before passing Chaz Davies for second one lap later.

At that stage, Lascorz was 1.5 seconds ahead of the Turkish rider, who set about chasing down the Spaniard, setting two fastest laps, before passing him on lap 14 and riding on to his third victory of the season.

“When I finally caught Lascorz in the race, I saw that I could win. The other problem I had was with my arm which I injured in a scooter crash last week. I have been going to the Clinica a lot and they advised me not to ride, but it was important for the championship to get another win here,” said Sofuoglu.

The win maintains Sofuoglu’s 100% podium record for the 2010 season, extends his record of World Supersport race victories to 17 and gives him a 15-point lead in the championship standings with four rounds remaining.

I sent my best wishes to Ronald ten Kate, who is not in Brno because father is not very well, but it felt very good to win for him. In the end, it was a really nice weekend and I am very happy.”

Sofuoglu’s Hannspree Ten Kate Honda team-mate, Michele Pirro, crashed out of the 18-lap race at the 5.403km Brno circuit, sustaining a broken nose, facial bruising and a fractured right wrist.

2010 World Supersport championship – round nine
Brno, Czech Republic (5.403km – 18 laps) – results:
1. Kenan Sofuoglu (TUR) Hannspree Ten Kate Honda 37’25.108s
2. Joan Lascorz (ESP) Kawasaki +0.124s
3. Chaz Davies (GBR) Triumph +7.153s
4. Gino Rea (GBR) Honda +7.813s
DNF Michele Pirro (ITA) Hannspree Ten Kate Honda

Championship points after nine of 13 rounds: 1 Sofuoglu 183, 2 Lascorz 168, 3 Eugene Laverty (IRL) Honda 161, 4 Davies 113