Kyle Smith took his first ever World Supersport victory in the season finale at Losail in Qatar after a nervy battle with world champion Kenan Sofuoglu.
Sofuoglu began the race fantastically well, taking the lead into turn one from the start with Lucas Mahias and PJ Jacobsen chasing, as fellow front-row rider Gino Rea hit some problems dropping back to 11th.
Lorenzo Zanetti was also chasing on the MV Agusta, with Smith holding place in fifth as he sought to overhaul Rea in the standings and secure top British rider, but the battle between Zanetti and Mahias for second allowed Sofuoglu to go clear in the early laps.
As the race wore on, Rea - who had been scything his way back through the field to 6th - crashed out, meaning Smith only had to finish in the top six to displace the Tooting rider in the standings but the 24-year-old fancied more than that and with Sofuoglu soon coming back to the chasing pack Smith battled for the lead.
Jacobsen and Mahias dropped out of contention as Smith passed Sofuoglu and Zanetti heading into turn one and on the exit holding off the challenge of both, but it was a close fought fight that ebbed and flowed.
Smith looked to be pulling out a bit of a gap past half-race-distance but ran wide, which allowed the chasing duo back onto his tail and with a few laps remaining Sofuoglu went for the jugular.
The Puccetti Kawasaki rider tried a move on Smith with two laps left, going down the inside of the Briton, but he ran slightly wide and that allowed Smith to regain the lead and from there he never looked back.
Dealing with the pressure expertly, the Pata Honda rider took his CBR600RR around the 3.443mile circuit in Qatar once more in fine fashion as Sofuoglu had to settle for second, a result he only held onto from the rampaging Zanetti in the end.
It was the perfect result for Smith, who is departing Pata Honda at the end of the 2015 season, and he will now head into the winter break in search of a new team with the achievement ‘World Supersport race winner’ added to his burgeoning CV.
