It was a day of hard work and some drama for five-time Supersport World Champion Kenan Sofuoglu, and one that ultimately gave him the best possible pre-race reward of pole position. In winning Superpole he had recovered from an earlier crash, which he suffered after losing the front in FP3.
His bike had suffered heavy damage and his technical crew rebuilt a new machine for him at high speed and he made it out into Superpole 2. Kenan had already qualified for Superpole 2 directly as the fastest rider after the first day of practice on Friday.
Re-entering the pits during Superpole 2 to make some final re-adjustments before going for his best time, Sofuoglu eventually set a 1’45.541 to secure pole position.
Kyle Ryde found real improvements in the front-end feel of his machine around the undulating and bumpy Portimao circuit today and qualified 15th, ending up just outside qualification for Superpole 2 and a potentially even better starting spot. He starts the race itself from the fifth row.
Sunday will feature an 18-lap WorldSSP race, at 12.00 noon local time in Portugal. Sofuoglu will be going for his fifth race win of the year when the green light goes on.
Kenan Sofuoglu, stated: “That was a very difficult Superpole but not because of our speed. Just before Superpole we had a crash and there was quite a lot of damage on the bike. The team worked really hard until Superpole began to build the bike again. When I started Superpole I understood that not everything was not exactly how I had used it before. So I came back in to help the team to make the changes. Superpole is only 15 minutes long, so there was a lot of stress for everybody. But we did well and this Superpole win is for my team. I am happy for them because when I saw how hard they worked on the bike and I really wanted to give them pole position. Starting from pole is very good but most importantly we are very strong in race simulations. Tomorrow when the tyre drops I think and believe that my advantage will start. I hope to go for another race victory tomorrow.”
Kyle Ryde, stated: “That went much better than it did on the opening day but we did not really change so much with the bike. We just got some more feeling with the front. I was around two seconds faster than yesterday and only two tenths or so from getting through to Superpole 2. Not a bad day today.”
Gino Rea (Team Kawasaki Go Eleven) was ninth in Superpole and Michael Canducci (3570 Puccetti Racing FMI Kawasaki) 12th.
Top part-time ESS rider on show was Rob Hartog (Team Hartog Jenik Against Cancer Kawasaki), who was 16th after Superpole 1. Japanese rider Kazuki Watanabe (Team Kawasaki Go Eleven) placed 18th. Zulfahmi Khairuddin (Orelac Racing VerdNatura Kawasaki) went 19th and Lachlan Epis (Response RE Racing Kawasaki) 25th in Superpole.