Broc Parkes enjoyed the perfect start to his World Supersport campaign with a dramatic late victory in the opening round of the season at Qatar.
The Yamaha rider had been in contention throughout the race but went into the final lap looking set for the final step of the podium behind long-time leader Fabien Foret and Spaniard Joan Lascorz.
The race would take a dramatic turn however when Foret ran out of fuel of the final lap, which looked like gifting the opening win of the season to Lascorz.
"However, in a drag race out of the final turn, Parkes was able to get a slip-stream from his rival and edge ahead on the run to the line, taking victory and the early season advantage by less than a tenth of a second.
"A good result for our side of the garage and the new YZF-R6 because at the end I was struggling a little bit for grip and when I saw Fabien go out I knew it was up to me to win so I pushed on anyway," he said. "I had a few front end slides on the last lap just because I was trying so hard, even though the tyres were good all race.
"I could still push them that hard at the end of the race and on the last corner I got into the slipstream and used the power of my Yamaha to get Lascorz over the line. It was a great win for me and we have struggled sometimes this weekend, but we got this season off to a good start."
