The second race of the 2014 Supersport World Championship was marked by a major upset on lap 12, when the two leading riders collided at Turn 16, the tight hairpin, at the end of the long back straight. Second place at the time Jules Cluzel (MV Agusta RC – Yakhnich Motorsport) hit the back of Kev Coghlan’s (DMC-Panavto Yamaha) YZF-R6, whilst attempting an overtaking manoeuvre on the race leader at the time, causing both riders to fall off their respective machines.

After the race, Cluzel claimed that he suffered a technical problem on his MV F3 675 whilst shifting down to first gear, something he already experienced the day before. For the Frenchman, this was the reason behind the incident. Despite the apologies made by Cluzel, Coghlan still has a slightly different opinion on what happened:

“I believe he was going to make a desperate move before the technical problem happened. If he wasn’t then why was he so far on the inside?” Coghlan told WorldSBK.com. “He did apologise for the situation but I don't think he wants to take any of the blame. To me it doesn't matter what happened to his bike, he could have picked up the bike and continued straight, but he still tried to turn in.”

Despite the crash, Coghlan was able to rejoin the race, crossing the line in fifth place: “In the end, it was a racing incident” he added “these things happen and I just feel fortunate that we could come away with some points and the championship lead.”
Cluzel and Coghlan will be back in action on April 27th as the Supersport World Championship returns to the Assen TT Circuit for round 3 of the season.