
Britain’s Kyle Smith crashed out of today’s sixth round World Superport race at Donington Park in the UK, finishing off a difficult weekend for the Pata Honda rider on his UK racing debut.
The Spanish-based Honda CBR600RR pilot had never ridden in the UK before this weekend and took most of the practice and qualifying sessions to get accustomed to the particular characteristics of the 4.023km Donington Park circuit.
A difficult qualifying session yesterday left Smith starting today’s 20-lap race from 12th on the grid but the 23-year-old got a good start and had climbed to eighth place before he crashed out of contention.
His DNF marked the second successive race that he has failed to score but he and his Pata Honda crew are determined to re-group and make amends at Portimao in Portugal where the seventh round of the series will be hosted in two weeks time.
Kyle Smith - DNF
It’s been a really bad weekend for me in my first race in the UK. Imola was pretty bad but this has been worse and I’ve not found a groove all weekend. The lap times have kept dropping but I’ve had mishaps like the crash in qualifying yesterday, which cost me some places on the grid. I got a good start like I needed and was just settling into the race when I lost the front like I did in Imola. There are a couple of issues at the front of the bike that I’m not comfortable with so I need to find a solution and re-group for the next race.
Pieter Breddels - technical co-ordinator
Kyle got a reasonable start and was trying to make his way further to the front and he crashed. He has not had good run lately and has had too many crashes so we’ll have to look at the settings on the front of the bike or his riding style. We’ll work hard to identify the problem though and come back fighting in Portugal.
Weather
Overcast
Air
14°C
Track
20°C
Humidity
87%
Race Results
1 Kenan Sofuoglu 30m20.711s TUR KAWASAKI Kawasaki Puccetti Racing
2 Jules Cluzel +0.891s FRA MV MV Agusta Reparto Corse
3 Kyle Ryde +7.968s GBR YAMAHA Pacedayz Yamaha
4 Lorenzo Zanetti +8.124s ITA MV MV Agusta Reparto Corse
5 Patrick Jacobson +12.388s USA KAWASAKI Kawasaki Intermoto Ponyexpres
6 Luke Stapleford +16.135s GBR TRIUMPH Profile Racing
7 Sam Hornsey +22.879s GBR TRIUMPH Profile Racing
8 Gino Rea +29.055s GBR HONDA CIA Landlords Insurance Honda
9 Niki Tuuli +35.607s FIN YAMAHA Kallio Racing
10 Alex Reid +36.043s GBR HONDA CORE Motorsport Thailand
Championship Standings
1 Kenan Sofuoglu 130 pts TUR KAWASAKI Kawasaki Puccetti Racing
2 Jules Cluzel 85 pts FRA MV MV Agusta Reparto Corse
3 Patrick Jacobson 79 pts USA KAWASAKI Kawasaki Intermoto Ponyexpres
4 Lorenzo Zanetti 70 pts ITA MV MV Agusta Reparto Corse
5 Gino Rea 54 pts GBR HONDA CIA Landlords Insurance Honda
6 Ratthapark Wilairot 46 pts THA HONDA CORE Motorsport Thailand
7 Kyle Smith 46 pts GBR HONDA Pata Honda World Supersport Team
8 Roberto Rolfo 46 pts ITA HONDA Team Lorini
9 Alex Baldolini 33 pts ITA MV Race Department ATK#25
10 Marco Faccani 32 pts ITA KAWASAKI Kawasaki Puccetti Racing