Yakhnich Yamaha’s Sam Lowes took his fourth consecutive World Supersport win at Portimao, and in doing so prevented MAHI Racing team-mates Kenan Sofuoglu and Fabien Foret from carrying out their planned race strategy..

The Turkish and French rider worked together to try and stop the Lincolnshire lad from winning this afternoon, but after a heated battle which lasted all of the 20 laps, Lowes prevailed and on the final lap was able to pull away from the duelling team-mates to take the victory.

Lowes enjoyed his time out on the circuit, but lack of grip did prove to be a slight issue for the rider, but he managed to remain calm and took his chances against the Kawasaki’s to win, extending his championship lead by 39 points.

“It was a good race, I got a decent start and I went for the softer front and softer rear tyre, and to be honest I think everyone struggled with grip because it was not quite as hot as we expected. I went to the front but then I was struggling a bit behind Fabien so I couldn’t make a decent pass, the old me would have had a go but with the situation we are still in a good position. I could not make a break so I didn’t try and I stayed there,” said Lowes, speaking to bikesportnews.com at the circuit.

“One part which was a bit rubbish was when Kenan got to the front and slowed it down to the 1’47’s and Van der Mark got involved as well. I don’t think he had the pace and tried to slow it down. They [MAHI Racing] planned to finish with both riders in front of me as that was their aim to work together, and they planned to get two riders in front of me. But they got none, so not a bad day for the team, and I was like oh yeah – nice.”