Yakhnich Yamaha Motorsport rider Sam Lowes delivered a great victory in a drama filled Monza World Supersport race at the weekend, punctuated by no less than three red flag incidents.

The young British rider had started from pole on his Yamaha YZF-R6, his eighth career pole and third consecutive of the 2013 season. Having fallen as an innocent victim in the first of several major on-track incidents Lowes was able to restart and became the key protagonist in the ten lap sprint that became the last re-start of the Supersport race. Victory had looked in doubt on the penultimate lap as Lowes dropped to fourth, however a stunning pass on the brakes going into the Della Roggia chicane put the Brit ahead of Florian Marino, Lorenzo Zanetti and Riccardo Russo to secure the lead which he held to the line.

This victory moves Lowes firmly into the World Supersport Championship lead with seventy points, sixteen clear of Fabien Foret in second place after four rounds.

Lowes teammate Vladimir Leonov made an impressive recovery from a challenging twenty-first position on the grid to finish well inside the top ten, beating Luca Scassa across the line by two tenths of a second to take seventh at the flag. The Russian worked hard to avoid the numerous track incidents and work his way through the field on each re-start. The result puts Leonov into thirteenth in the standings with twenty-one points.

 

 

Victory and podium domination also went to Yamaha in the Superstock 600 European Cup race. Team Trasimeno Yamaha rider Nicola Morrentino being the first of four Yamaha YZF-R6s to cross the line, securing his maiden victory in challenging conditions. The race started shortly after a major rainstorm, making Morrentino’s victory even more special, the Italian having ridden nine laps through difficult conditions and a soaking wet track for his win. The win places him in fourth in the standings with thirty-three points, twenty-four behind fellow Yamaha rider and Championship leader Gauthier Duwelz, who finished ninth.