Mahi Racing's Sofuoglu wins at Imola

Mahi Racing Team India rider Kenan Sofuoglu finished the race here with a bang at the top in the seventh leg of the World Supersport Championship, pipping leader Sam Lowes by three seconds Sunday.

The defending world champion, who started second, overtook Lowes in the first turn 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 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 stopped immediately but two more incidents of slipping due to the 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. With the team getting back to a winning spree, Sofuoglu now stands second in the overall standings with 106 points and is 35 points behind Sam Lowes whereas Fabien is third with 85 points.