After only two Rounds of its 2016 calendar, the FIM
Supersport World Championship is already taking interesting shape. As Aragón
looms, two different riders and manufacturers have already celebrated race
victory.
This weekend’s World Supersport race will be the sixth
staged at the MotorLand Aragón facility on the outskirts of the picturesque
Spanish town of Alcañiz. The first, back in 2011, was won by Chaz Davies en
route to that year’s WorldSSP title.
Fast-forward half a decade and Randy Krummenacher finds
himself with the Championship lead, having at Phillip Island become the first
Swiss rider to win a race in this category. PJ Jacobsen sits second thanks to
his consistency thus far, while the victor in Thailand, Jules Cluzel, is third
from rapid debutant Federico Caricasulo. Young Italian Caricasulo is tied on
points with reigning World Champion Kenan Sofuoglu. Kawasaki holds the advantage
in the Manufacturers’ Championship, edging out Honda and MV Agusta by nine and
ten points respectively, with a lot of racing still ahead of us in the
season.
Last year at the Spanish track, Cluzel was denied a
chance of victory due to a mechanical problem. Sofuoglu subsequently claimed top
honours and became the first World Supersport rider to win twice at MotorLand,
following the previous successes of Sam Lowes, Fabien Foret and the
aforementioned Chaz Davies.
Bolstering the grid to well over 30 riders, the FIM
Europe Supersport Cup (ESS) becomes part of the agenda and will line up on the
WorldSSP grid at every European round. Out of the ashes of the now disappeared
Superstock 600 FIM European Championship, this new class allows teams and riders
to sign up for the European rounds only. They will battle in their own points
table, taking points from the positions in which they finish the races but at
the same time, there is nothing stopping the ESS competitors from mixing it with
the regulars and scoring overall championship points. The ESS class will include
the likes of rapid Ilya Mikhalchik, Axel Bassani (who went very well on his
debut at Magny-Cours last year) and Javier Orellana, who is the reigning
Champion in the European Junior Cup.
Opening practice for the MotorLand Aragón World
Supersport round will come on Friday morning, ahead of Sunday’s race which
starts at 11:20 local time (GMT +2). Follow every lap on WorldSBK.com, on the Live Experience App, and make sure to follow @WorldSBK on Twitter.
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