The World Supersport Race start was delayed due to trackside kerbstone being repaired after a race one crash damaged it at the final turn, but it finally delivered the clear win to Honda privateer and World Supersport regular Joan Lascorz. Andrew Pitt (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda CBR600RR) fell from a potential podium place of second and remounted, but could only finish 19th and out of the points. He had been the pole man, having set a new track best on Friday of 1’36.773.

Craig Jones (Parkalgar Honda CBR600RR) went third in the race, as he had in qualifying, following Fabien Foret but he was finally unable to pass the Frenchman.

Josh Brookes (Hannspree Stiggy Motorsports Honda CBR600RR) and Robbin Harms (Hannspree Stiggy Motorsports Honda CBR600RR) failed to finish the race as Brookes retired due to a worn front tyre and Harms fell while chasing the leading group.

Jonathan Rea (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda CBR600RR) fought his own front tyre grip issues to go sixth, one place behind the impressive Gianluca Nannelli (Hannspree Althea Honda CBR600RR) who had started 17th on the grid.

In the championship itself, Brookes lost his lead today and now sits fourth, on the same 33 point total as Foret. Lascorz is in the lead on 54 points, with Jones fifth on 32, Pitt sixth on 25, on the same unchanged total as Harms. Rea is now ranked eighth, on 21 points.

Jones said: “That was a great race, I thoroughly enjoyed battling at the front of the field. While I am happy with the podium, the racer in me is frustrated at not winning - but I did everything I could today. After crashing my number one bike yesterday, we had to rebuild from scratch and try to get the set-up right during warm-up. My Parkalgar Honda team worked hard and this third place is for them.”

Nannelli said: “After dislocating my right shoulder in practice I have to thank the Clinica Mobile for fixing me up and the team for giving me a fast bike. I started from way back but I made up places and I am very happy to have scored a top five.”

Rea said: “That was a really difficult race for me. Some parts of our set-up weren’t working today and the front was sliding from the start, which I haven’t had all weekend. It is the same tyre as the first two days. A bike blew up in front of me and there was oil everywhere, and I thought the race would be stopped. I got a sixth place and some more points, so we can move on to Assen now.”

Pitt: “I used the same set of tyres that I had used all year and we obviously had good speed, because we were on pole. We just had an issue with front grip and we need to find out why before Assen. Have to do better, simple as that.”

Brookes said: “My start was OK and I was trying to get comfortable for the first couple of laps and stay with the group in front of me. The bike was feeling pretty good and I was able to get into a good rhythm. I was in 9th place when, all of a sudden, I could feel something wrong with my front tyre. I was forced to stop because of the problem and it’s really a shame because I know I could have taken important championship points today.”

Harms Said: “I had an awesome start from my 19th place on the grid and was up to 8th place by the end of the first lap. Although I knew the settings on the bike were not ideal, I was pretty comfortable. I was trying to ride as consistently as possible - taking it smooth and easy. The feeling was good and I didn’t want to risk anything but then, going into a corner, I could feel the bike moving and suddenly I didn’t have the bike under control any more. I lost the front and crashed out.”

The next race is at Assen, on April 27.

Results

SUPERSPORT:
RACE : (Laps 23 = 92,115 Km)
Pos / Rider /Nat. / Team / Gap
1 / J. LASCORZ / ESP / Honda CBR600RR / Glaner Motocard.com / 37'58.607
2 / F. FORET / FRA / Yamaha YZF-R6 / Yamaha World Supersport / 1.125
3 / C. JONES / GBR / Honda CBR600RR / Parkalgar Racing Team / 1.530
4 / B. PARKES / AUS / Yamaha YZF-R6 / Yamaha World Supersport / 10.514
5 / G.NANNELLI / ITA / Honda CBR600RR / Hannspree Honda Althea / 17.492
6 / J. REA / GBR / Honda CBR600RR / Hannspree Ten Kate Honda / 17.602
7 / M.ROCCOLI / ITA / Yamaha YZF-R6 / Yamaha Lorenzini by Leoni / 19.636
8 / A. RODRIGUEZ / ESP / Yamaha YZF-R6 / L'Oreal Men Expert Laglisse / 19.694
9 / C.WALKER / GBR / Kawasaki ZX-6R / Kawasaki Gil Motor Sport / 25.230
10 / M.AITCHISON / AUS / Triumph 675 / Triumph Italia BE1 Racing / 25.702
11 / K. FUJIWARA / JPN / Kawasaki ZX-6R / Kawasaki Gil Motor Sport / 32.370
12 / G.VIZZIELLO / ITA / Honda CBR600RR / Berry Racing / 33.591
13 / M.LAGRIVE / FRA / Honda CBR600RR / Intermoto Czech / 34.706
14 / V. KALLIO / FIN / Honda CBR600RR / Benjan Racing Team / 39.956
15 / M.PRAIA / POR / Honda CBR600RR / Parkalgar Racing Team / 40.227

Fastest Lap 3° Broc Parkes 1'37.590 147,741 Km/h
Lap record: 2007 K. Fujiwara 1'37.570 147,770 Km/h
Best Lap: 2008 J. Lascorz 1'36.649 149,180 Km/h

Riders Championship Standings:
1 LASCORZ 54, 2 PARKES 38, 3 FORET 33, 4 BROOKES 33, 5 JONES 32, 6 PITT 25,
7 HARMS 25, 8 REA 21, 9 VIZZIELLO 18, 10 NANNELLI 17, 11 ROCCOLI 16, 12 WALKER 16,
13 LAGRIVE 14, 14 MCCOY 10, 15 VENEMAN 10.