Crutchlow win boosts championship chase

By Burning Rubber on Jun 21, 09 02:30 PM

CAL Crutchlow extended his championship lead with a close win over Eugene Laverty in the restarted World Supersport race at Misano.

The Brit took the victory by a fraction on his Yamaha Racing R1, after a race which was ultimately decided on aggregate following a red flag.

He now sits 14 points clear of Laverty in the title chase.

The race was initially stopped when HANNSpree Ten Kate's Kenan Sofuoglu crashed out, with polesitter Michele Pirro and Gianluca Nannelli seemingly going down on spilled oil.

At the restart, Crutchlow got the jump and led for much of the early part of the 14 lap sprint, before Laverty made a move past on Lap 11 after a couple of close looks up the inside.

But Cal wasn't going to let him get away, and kept the hammer down, passing him again two laps later on the penultimate lap.

And although Laverty had a fraction of a second advantage on aggregate, it wasn't enough to keep the lead, as Cal crossed the line with hundredths of a second to spare.

"It looks like its all going well," he said. "We're leading the championship still, I've managed to get a few more points back - all credit to Yamaha for the hard work everyone has put in.

"I came here not knowing the circuit, and coming to a new track is always difficult so we knew it wasn't going to be easy here today. But I'm happy with the win, for me and for the whole team."

Laverty, who had a close call on the cool-down lap when he congratulated Cal, then banged into his bike sending his flying over and himself off, admitted he was beaten fair and square. Eugene Laverty

"I had a few laps to go and I didn't particularly want to go past him, but I was thinking I was faster and knew we had a little bit of time to spare on aggregate.

"I really didn't want him to get the drive on the last lap so made the move, but he passed me again. I didn't leave myself enough time to get past on the last lap...I'd already gone for Plan B, but unfortunately there was no Plan C!"

Full results:

1 35 Crutchlow C. (GBR) Yamaha YZF R6 36'51.032 (151,377 kph)
2 50 Laverty E. (IRL) Honda CBR600RR 0.263
3 55 Roccoli M. (ITA) Honda CBR600RR 16.289
4 26 Lascorz J. (ESP) Kawasaki ZX-6R 20.894
5 8 Aitchison M. (AUS) Honda CBR600RR 21.615
6 21 Fujiwara K. (JPN) Kawasaki ZX-6R 22.272
7 13 West A. (AUS) Honda CBR600RR 25.099
8 99 Foret F. (FRA) Yamaha YZF R6 26.374
9 69 Nannelli G. (ITA) Triumph Daytona 675 34.558
10 117 Praia M. (POR) Honda CBR600RR 49.578
11 105 Vizziello G. (ITA) Honda CBR600RR 51.446
12 40 Gentile F. (ITA) Honda CBR600RR 54.391
13 9 Dell'Omo D. (ITA) Honda CBR600RR 1'00.324
14 28 Vos A. (NED) Honda CBR600RR 1'11.594
15 88 Guerra Y. (ESP) Yamaha YZF R6 1'43.088
16 22 Muresan R. (ROU) Triumph Daytona 675
RET 51 Pirro M. (ITA) Yamaha YZF R6
RET 24 McCoy G. (AUS) Triumph Daytona 675
RET 54 Sofuoglu K. (TUR) Honda CBR600RR
RET 77 Veneman B. (NED) Honda CBR600RR
RET 5 Pradita T. (INA) Yamaha YZF R6
RET 25 Laverty M. (GBR) Honda CBR600RR
RET 96 Smrz M. (CZE) Triumph Daytona 675
RET 7 Vostárek P. (CZE) Honda CBR600RR
RET 127 Harms R. (DEN) Honda CBR600RR
RET 101 Coghlan K. (GBR) Yamaha YZF R6
RET 30 Günther J. (GER) Honda CBR600RR
RET 44 Brannetti A. (ITA) Yamaha YZF R6
RET 1 Pitt A. (AUS) Honda CBR600R