DMC Panavto-Yamaha’s Kev Coghlan left it till the chequered flag appeared to lap a 1’44.885, putting him an impressive third fastest on the opening World Supersport free practice timesheets at Jerez this morning.
But unfortunately the Perth born racer was unable to match the pace of the two quickest riders this morning, that accolade went to Pata Honda’s Michael Van Der Mark and San Carlo Puccetti Kenan Sofuoglu, who set a 1’44.344, and a 1’44.871 respectively.
Coghlan was five tenths slower that the young Dutch superstar, and only 0.01 seconds off the time clocked by Sofuoglu, but still did enough to make him a contender for the race on Sunday. Intermoto’s Florian Marino and Pata Honda’s Lorenzo Zanetti completed the top five.
Van Der Mark was the rider who initially set the pace with a 1’45.198, on the 30 minute mark, with Sofuoglu and Coghlan in close succession. But ten minutes later former MCE British Superbike contender, PJ Jacobsen propelled his bike into second on the sheets, and was only two tenths off the pace of the Dutch lad.
Van Der Mark was continuing to improve, but he was not the only one. Triple champ, Sofuoglu was also getting into the red on the timing screens and with a handful of minutes remaining out on the Spanish track he lapped a 1’44.873, and was the first rider to lap within the 1’44’s this morning.
The Turkish rider recently left the Mahi Racing outfit, to join the San Carlo Puccetti team and was certainly feeling confident onboard his Kawasaki and went three tenths quicker than rival Van Der Mark, but in the end the Honda came out the victor, with a five tenth advantage.
CIA Insurance Honda’s Jack Kennedy narrowly missed out on a top five time, but a 1’45.415 was good enough to place him a respectable seventh on the timesheets.
