WorldSSP: Cluzel Keeps Championship Top 3 After Tough Sepang
MV Agusta rider closest challenger to Puccetti riders as Donington awaits
The heavens in Sepang opened right on time to interrupt proceedings for the WorldSSP grid on Sunday, with a wet race declared before worsening conditions saw the start delayed. The Race was subsequently rescheduled for after WorldSBK Race 2, with the track conditions wet but drying and difficult to judge.
MV Agusta Reparto Corse rider Cluzel, after a difficult Race in Assen in the rain, scored a good haul of points in the next wet contest at Sepang, coming home in P7 just behind points leader Sofuoglu and in front of fellow Championship rival Randy Krummenacher in P8. The Frenchman chose an intermediate rear tyre that saw the soaking track in the first phase difficult to manage, before then setting fastest laps later in the Race and managing to split the riders ahead of him in the points table to score another good haul of points.
“It’s a shame because we chose the intermediate tyre to the rear when the track began to dry out,” said Cluzel. “This decision penalized us more than the other riders, forcing me to lose too much time in the early laps, when there was still plenty of water on the track. However we are always 3rd in the championship and I now really look forward to Donington.”
Cluzel was on the podium at Donington Park in 2015, and will be looking to repeat the feat as WorldSSP heads back to Europe.
