Michele Pirro wins as title contenders clash

Michele Pirro has taken a surprise first career World Supersport win after a dramatic final corner collision between title contenders Kenan Sofuoglu and Eugene Laverty took them out just yards from the finish line.

Sofuoglu and Laverty had been embarking on a thrilling duel from the very first corner, the pair swapping the lead persistently throughout the race – at times on four occasions per lap.

Tailing Sofuoglu into the final lap, Laverty made several attempts to get the better of his Honda counterpart, but it would be his bungled attempt up the inside of the final corner chicane that would bring the tussle to an unexpected conclusion.

With both riders braking late as they entered the bend, Laverty's Parkalgar Honda would fold beneath him on the kerb, the Irishman swiping out Sofuoglu in the process with the chequered flag in sight.

The pair scrabbled to get going again, but while they would pick themselves up to cross the line, they couldn't get going before Pirro had come past to record a very unexpected victory.

Even more fortuitous for the Ten Kate Honda rider, he entered the final lap in fourth position behind Chaz Davies on the Triumph. However, the Welshman and the British manufacturer would be cruelly denied a maiden WSS victory by a mechanical problem just a few corners from the chequered flag.

Despite the drama, Sofuoglu still beat Laverty in second position to keep his title hopes on course, a rather bemused Laverty left to settle for third. The margin between them is now 16 points with one race remaining.

Further back, Broc Parkes put in a superb ride to finish fourth having been as low as 14th following a poor start, the Australian finishing ahead of Kawasaki team-mate Katsuaki Fujiwara.

Massimo Roccoli equalled his best finish of the season in sixth, ahead of Mark Aitchison, Cristiano Migliorati, Roberto Tamburini and Gianluca Vizziello.

Nurburgring hero Gino Rea crashed out of contention on lap four.

Source: http://www.crash.net/world+superbikes/

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Michele Pirro replaced by Quarmby for Silverstone

Hannspree Ten Kate Honda's World Supersport rider Michele Pirro has been forced to miss the forthcoming Silverstone round of the World Supersport championship on 1st August. The 24-year-old Italian crashed heavily during round nine of the series at Brno in the Czech Republic last Sunday, sustaining a fracture to the bridge of his nose and a dislocated wrist.

The team has announced that South African Ronan Quarmby will replace Pirro for the Silverstone round. The 19-year-old contested the South African round at Kyalami in May on a Ten Kate-prepared Honda CBR600RR, running in the top ten during free practice and qualifying. Quarmby was unfortunately forced to withdraw from the Kyalami race after a rare bone condition was diagnosed following a scan on his left femur. Following an operation, which included injecting cement into the bone and plating almost the entire length of the femur, Quarmby has fought his way back to fitness and was given a clean bill of health two weeks ago.

"I feel very sorry for Michele," said Ronan Quarmby. "I saw the crash at Brno and it looked pretty bad. It's never ideal to get a ride because of another rider's injury and I wish him all the best for a speedy recovery. I'm so excited to get an opportunity to ride for the Ten Kate team, though. Their record speaks for itself and I'm just so grateful to Ronald and the other Ten Kate guys who have helped me. This is just awesome news for me and I can't wait to get back to the UK. After Kyalami I was told I'd be out of action for between six and eighteen months, so I'm completely over the moon to get this chance. I was going to ride at Silverstone in a Superstock race, but that was in 2007 when it was all cancelled because of the rain. Hopefully, the weather will be good this time because I really want to make the most of this opportunity."

Source: http://www.worldsbk.com/

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South African teenager to replace injured Pirro

Michele Pirro is to miss the forthcoming Silverstone round of the World Supersport Championship, with his place at Hannspree Ten Kate Honda going to South African teenager Ronan Quarmby.

Pirro crashed heavily during round nine of the series at Brno in the Czech Republic last Sunday, sustaining a fracture to the bridge of his nose and a dislocated wrist.

"I think that Michele is lucky that he wasn't more badly hurt in what looked like a very nasty crash last weekend. However, it is still a shame for him that he will have to miss the Silverstone round," said team manager Ronald ten Kate.

Pirro's 19-year-old replacement Quarmby contested the South African round at Kyalami in May on a Ten Kate-prepared Honda, running in the top ten during free practice and qualifying.

Quarmby was unfortunately forced to withdraw from race after a rare bone condition was diagnosed following a scan on his left femur.

Following an operation, which included injecting cement into the bone and plating almost the entire length of the femur, Quarmby has fought his way back to fitness and was given a clean bill of health two weeks ago.

"Ronan showed quite some pace in the early sessions at Kyalami and we were surprised to hear that he was forced to withdraw," said ten Kate. "He has worked hard to make a good recovery, though, and we are happy to give him this opportunity to show what he can do at Silverstone.

"Besides this race, we also made an agreement for Ronan to contest a couple of subsequent World Supersport rounds as a wild-card rider on one of the Ten Kate Racing Products customer machines, so this is a great chance for him."

Quarmby feels sorry for Pirro, but is naturally looking forward to making the most of his big chance.

"I feel very sorry for Michele. I saw the crash at Brno and it looked pretty bad. It's never ideal to get a ride because of another rider's injury and I wish him all the best for a speedy recovery," he said.

Source: http://www.crash.net/world+superbikes/news/

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Brno crash leaves Pirro with broken nose

The Brno weekend turned out to be a very disappointing one for Hannspree Ten Kate Honda's World Supersport rider Michele Pirro. While the team was able to celebrate another win for Turkey's Kenan Sofuoglu, who also bounced back into the lead of the points standings, it didn't manage to do the same with his Italian team-mate.

When the reigning Italian Supersport champion crashed out on lap 3, it was the end of a promising weekend for Pirro, who suffered a broken nose, facial bruising and a fractured right wrist in the incident.

Pirro, whose best result this year has been a third place at Portimao at the second round, had qualified his Honda CBR600R on row 2 and was aiming for his second podium of the year.

The Italian rider's presence at the next round at Silverstone is doubtful.

Source: http://www.worldsbk.com/

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