June 28, 2009

Home run as Crutchlow cleans up at Donington

Yamaha Racing
2009 WSS Europe
Donington Park 28/06/2009

Yamaha World Supersport rider Cal Crutchlow made sure the British fans got what they came for today as he aced the World Supersport race, leading from the fourth lap till the chequered flag. The win never looked in doubt as Crutchlow laid down lap after lap with a consistently fast race pace. He takes away with him not only the fastest lap of the race with a record of 1'32.449 but also the Best lap record from earlier in the weekend with a 1'31.701. Arch rival for the championship Eugene Laverty fell early in the race, and although he rejoined could not manage better than fifth at the end.

Crutchlow's team-mate Fabien Foret had put his head down to work hard from his less than perfect grid position and had managed to battle up to fifth spot when three laps from the end a technical failure resulted in the Frenchman having to retire from the race, tantalizingly close to the finish.

Crutchlow leaves Donington having extended his championship lead to 185 points, 28 points ahead of rival Laverty as they head to the last race in Brno before the summer break. Foret remains in seventh position in the standings on 63 points, 12 points behind sixth place rider Anthony West.

Cal Crutchlow, Yamaha World Supersport Team (1st)
"it was great to come here in front of the home fans at Donington. I thought we could have a good go between me and Eugene but it wasn't to be, unfortunately he fell off. All credit to him for getting back up to fifth. It was a very hard race for me, it's pretty mentally challenging when you're out there on your own. It was one of those races where you just try to keep your composure and reel the laps off. All credit to Yamaha they put a fantastic package in front of me this weekend. I got injured in the first lap of free practice which didn't make it easy for us but we've done a good job in the end!"

Fabien Foret

Fabien Foret, Yamaha World Supersport Team (DNF)
"What a frustrating day for me! I didn't have the best position to start from on the grid but I put my head down and worked really hard to work through some of the guys. When I got to fifth I could see the gap between myself and Sofuoglu was too big to close so I just focused on putting in fast consistent laps. Unfortunately I developed a problem just a few laps from the end and there was nothing I could do. I'm thinking about Brno now and hoping to have a better race day."

Wilco Zeelenberg, Yamaha World Supersport Team Manager
"It was again a spectacular race of course although very different from Misano. I think for Cal it was hard to know that Eugene had crashed, although he did come back to get fifth, giving Cal a 28 point lead in the standings which is fantastic. We are glad that Eugene is not injured but the bigger difference does make our lives a bit easier. It's a pity that Fabien suffered from a technical fault, the bike stopped which is tough as he was going well in fifth and it would have been good to bring both riders home. A Big thank you to the team who have worked really hard this weekend as always to make it possible for Cal to go out and win."

Circuit Length: 4023

Fastest Lap Ever: 1'31.701 (Cal Crutchlow, 28/06/2009)
Last Years Winner: Joshua Brookes

2009 WSS Europe - Donington Park 28/06/2009

Race 1
Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time
1 Cal Crutchlow Yamaha GBR 34'15.876
2 Joan Lascorz Kawasaki ESP 0'05.391
3 Garry McCoy Triumph AUS 0'14.918
4 Kenan Sofuoglu Honda TUR 0'22.248
5 Eugene Laverty Honda GBR 0'37.054
6 Barry Veneman Honda NED 0'39.079
7 Gianluca Vizziello Honda ITA 0'39.978
8 Gianluca Nannelli Triumph ITA 0'42.733
9 Danilo Dell'omo Honda ITA 0'43.030
10 Andrew Pitt Honda AUS 0'47.422
11 James Westmorland Triumph GBR 0'50.207
12 Patrick Vostarek Honda ITA 0'50.474
13 Kev Coghlan Honda GBR 0'50.763
14 Hudson Kennaugh Yamaha RSA 0'58.147
15 Michele Pirro Yamaha ITA 0'59.756

Best Lap
Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time
Cal Crutchlow Yamaha GBR 1'32.449

Rider Standings 28/06/2009

Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Points
1. Cal Crutchlow Yamaha GBR 185
2. Eugene Laverty Honda GBR 157
3. Kenan Sofuoglu Honda TUR 121
4. Joan Lascorz Kawasaki ESP 106
5. Andrew Pitt Honda AUS 79
6. Anthony West Honda AUS 75
7. Fabien Foret Yamaha FRA 63
8. Mark Aitchison Honda AUS 61
9. Garry McCoy Triumph AUS 55
10. Michele Pirro Yamaha ITA 49
11. Massimo Roccoli Honda ITA 40
12. Barry Veneman Honda NED 40
13. Katsuaki Fujiwara Kawasaki JPN 39
14. Matthieu Lagrive Honda FRA 38
15. Gianluca Nannelli Triumph ITA 31
21. Doni Tata Pradita Yamaha IDN 8
23. Franco Battaini Yamaha ITA 5
27. Hudson Kennaugh Yamaha RSA 2
29. Yannick Guerra Yamaha ESP 1