Round 12 – Qatar
Losail International Circuit, Qatar
PJ Jacobsen and the Honda WorldSSP Team have completed the 2016 edition of the FIM Supersport World Championship in fourth place in the title race. In the final encounter of the season, which was contested today at the Losail International Circuit, the 23-year-old American rider was just one position off a podium place at the chequered flag. The racing year for Jacobsen ends with a tally of four podium finishes – two seconds and two thirds – and 135 points scored across the twelve races.
Jacobsen got a good start from ninth place and, by the end of the opening lap, he was already up to fourth. On board his Honda CBR600RR, PJ pushed hard not to lose touch with the leading pack, but eventually he had to give up on his podium hopes as the laps went by. In the final stages of the race, Jacobsen consolidated his fourth place and fended off a determined Randy Krummenacher.
Patrick Jacobsen 2 4th
“Today I did the best that I could. The team really worked well but fourth was the maximum I could get. I tried to stay with the front runners at the beginning but I simply didn’t have the pace nor feeling to push really hard and ride like I wanted to. It’s a shame not to have made second place in the championship, but I want to thank the team, Honda and all the boys for a great opportunity and all their hard work this year.”
Pieter Breddels, Technical Manager
“We tried something this morning with the bike but it didn’t turn out to be the right change and it cost us some time, but at least it gave us a better idea on what to do ahead of the race. PJ had a great start and he looked like he could get into the battle for the podium, but he got stuck into fourth position and then couldn’t make time up on the leaders. This was not enough to improve our championship position, and fourth place is what we got at the end. I feel we could have finished higher this year, but that’s racing, and sometimes things just don’t go the way you’d like them to.”
