Sam Lowes delivered his fourth consecutive World Supersport victory yesterday on his Yakhnich Yamaha Motorsport YZF-R6 at the Portimao Circuit in Portugal for round six of the 2013 Championship.
Lowes had again made his intentions clear early in the weekend, flying to his fifth pole position start of the season in qualifying, his tenth career pole. Only two other riders were able to get within a second of the Yamaha’s qualifying time and even then second placed rider Kenan Sofuoglu was over half a second away.
The World Supersport race proved to be one of the most exciting of the season, building to an intense four-way battle over the last laps with Lowes initially pitted against Sofuoglu and Fabien Foret before late comer Michael van der Mark joined the party to put himself into contention for podium honours.
Lowes, Sofuoglu and Foret would all take turns to lead the race until the last lap, Lowes making a race-winning pass on Foret into turn ten and holding it to the line for his fourth win of the year on the Yamaha R6.
The victory strengthens the young British rider’s lead in the Championship standings, bringing the points tally to 120, a clear 39 ahead of closest rival Sofuoglu. The Championship now heads to Imola in Italy for round seven on 30th June.
The European Superstock 600 Championship race saw the production spec Yamaha YZF-R6 continuing to show it’s class leading performance with Gauthier Duwelz storming to second place in Portimao. The podium finish extends Duwelz’s lead in the standings with 77 points, 21 clear of closest rival Bastien Chesaux.
Sam Lowes
“This weekend I found a really nice feeling with the bike and had a really good pace. In the race I struggled a bit with the front feeling but felt good and the bike worked good. When I got to the front I made good pace but not enough to pull away. We ended up in a nice battle and hope everyone at home could enjoy it. I’m really happy to get that win. The next race in Imola Fabien has won the last two years and I’ve been second so I hope we can change that this time. This weekend and this race has been great, really good fun and I’m looking forward to the next one. I love racing bikes and I love winning so I’m going to keep trying my best, do the best job I can every race. I’d like to thank the team and Yamaha who gave me a great bike again to race with.”
World Supersport Portimao Race Results:
1. Sam Lowes GBR Yakhnich Yamaha YZF-R6 20 laps
2. Fabien Foret FRA Mahi India Kawasaki ZX-6R +0.380s
3. Kenan Sofuoglu TUR Mahi India Kawasaki ZX-6R +0.502s
4. Michael van der Mark NED Pata Honda CBR600RR +1.322s
5. Sherian Morais RSA PTR Honda CBR600RR +9.537s
6. Jack Kennedy IRL RivaMoto Honda CBR600RR +11.772s
7. Andrea Antonelli ITA Go Eleven Kawasaki ZX-6R +13.535s
8. Luca Scassa ITA Intermoto PonyExpres Kawasaki ZX-6R +13.953s
9. Raffaele de Rosa ITA Lorini Honda CBR600RR +14.728s
10. Christian Iddon GBR ParkinGO MV Agusta F3 +18.756s
11. Vladimir Leonov RUS Yakhnich Yamaha YZF-R6 +18.909s
12. Massimo Roccoli ITA Pata by Martini Yamaha YZF-R6 +32.012s
13. Alex Baldolini ITA Suriano Suzuki GSX-R600 +32.039s
14. Lorenzo Zanetti ITA Pata Honda CBR600RR +32.118s
15. Luca Marconi ITA PTR Honda CBR600RR +33.152s
World Supersport Standings
1 Sam Lowes Yakhnich Yamaha 120
2 Fabien Foret Mahi Kawasaki 81
= Kenan Sofuoglu Mahi Kawasaki 81
3 Michael van der Mark Pata Honda 62
4 Lorenzo Zanetti Pata Honda 55
5 Luca Scassa Intermoto Kawasaki 53
6 Andrea Antonelli Go Eleven Kawasaki 46
7 Jack Kennedy RivaMoto Honda 44
8 Roberto Rolfo ParkinGO MV Agusta 38
9 Florian Marino Intermoto Kawasaki 31
= Vladimir Leonov Yakhnich Yamaha 31
10 Sheridan Morais PTR Honda 30
Sourse: www.yamaha-racing.com
