On the hottest day of the Thai race weekend, Frenchman Jules Cluzel beat the heat and his rivals to come out on top in the WorldSSP race. After taking Pole Position in the Tissot-Superpole shootout, the Supersport stalwart fought a four-way battle with Jacobsen, Sofuoglu and Krummenacher until finally passing the American for the final lap and coming home clear of the squabble for position behind.

Teammate Lorenzo Zanetti also had a good comeback from a difficult qualifying. The Italian pushed his MV Agusta F3 675 hard at Chang International Circuit, establishing a very fast pace from mid-race and making his way up to 8th place.

“I’m very happy because it was a long, hard race but we fought till the last meter and in the end we won,” said Cluzel, who also thanked his team and girlfriend for their support during his time injured and recuperating at the end of 2015. “When I saw the two Kawasakis behind me pushing at their limit, I knew I had to focus only on Jacobsen and so I did. Many thanks to all my team, after last year’s bad luck here in Thailand, I really wanted this victory. We are now third in the championship and hopefully we can replicate this incredible weekend even in the next race at MotorLand.”

“It has surely been a difficult weekend, I’ve never started from the 16th on grid,” lamented Zanetti. “As the light went off I tried to push as much as possible and when I arrived 8th I preferred to get these important points home, avoiding to take other risks. I’m pretty happy because now we know the right direction to take and I hope I will start fighting for the podium again at the next race in Aragon.”

That next race sees Cluzel come off the back of this 11^th career win to continue his quest for a WorldSSP title in Spain as Supersport heads to MotorLand Aragon.