Sofuoglu tops 7th leg

Mahi Racing Team India rider Kenan Sofuoglu finished at the top in the seventh leg of the 2013 World Supersport Championship, pipping leader Sam Lowes from previous race by three seconds.

The defending world champion, who began the race in second spot after the qualification rounds held on Saturday, overtook Lowes on the first turn itself and then maintained the lead throughout the race which was affected by an oil spill on the track.

Till the spill, Sofuoglu had asserted his supremacy on the race with the fastest lap of 1.51.960 on the third lap to open up a big gap between him and Lowes.

The race was red flagged with 14 laps to go when Prorace Honda rider Valentin Debise had an engine blow out and oil spilled on the track. The race was not immediately stopped but with two more incidents of slipping due to the oil spill forced the race stewards to bring out the red flag and bring an end to the race.

Sofuoglu’s victory also ended a four race winning sequence of Lowes. “Though I would have loved to have taken the chequered flag at the end of the full race, a win is a win and I am very happy to return to finish at the top,” said the Turkish rider.

Mahi Racing’s second rider Fabien Foret finished 12th in the race.

With Mahi Racing Team getting back to a winning spree, Sofuoglu now stands second in the overall standing with 106 points and is 35 points behind Sam Lowes.