Sam Lowes wins 2013 World Supersport title

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Sam Lowes has been crowned World Supersport Champion for 2013 after finishing second in the penultimate round of the season at Magny-Cours.

The British rider came into the race needing just a points' finish to secure the crown with one round in hand, but refused to back down in the battle for outright victory as he tussled with arch rival Kenan Sofuoglu and an inspired Christian Iddon from start-to-finish.

Culminating in yet another thrilling battle between the season-long sparring partners, in the end Sofuoglu was declared the winner after the red flag was deployed on the last lap.

However, it was nowhere near enough to keep the title fight open to Jerez, with Lowes duly confirmed as champion for Yakhnich Yamaha.

A magnificent first WSS title for the 23-year-old after blending scintillating speed with unwavering consistency, Lowes has won five races and five second place finishes so far this year, with just a single technical-induced DNF to his name.

Furthermore, Lowes's success marks a maiden WSS title for the Russian-financed Yakhnich outfit, a marvellous achievement for a team competing in only its second WSS season, while it is Yamaha's third riders' title in five seasons.

The race itself would prove something of a dogged battle from start-to-finish, with front row starter Iddon proving the unexpected package as he snatched the lead at the start on the ParkinGO MV Agusta and proceeded to fend off the attentions of Lowes.

Indeed, though Lowes would make repeated attempts at overtaking his countryman, Iddon - yet to score a podium in WSS - would hold firm until lap four when he eventually slipped by into Adelaide.

Undeterred, Iddon continued to keep Lowes honest, whilst maintaining a gap to Sofuoglu behind him, the Turk slowly working his way into contention following a fairly tardy opening to the race.

Iddon's perseverance would pay off on lap 12 of 22 when Lowes appeared to lose speed all of a sudden, the youngster allowing both Iddon and Sofuoglu through as he furiously checked his dashboard for any potential gremlins. Despite the heart-in-mouth moment, Lowes was soon back up to speed and harassing the front two once more as the race entered its closing stages.

In the end, Sofuoglu would relieve Iddon of the lead with seven laps remaining, with Lowes swiftly following through to set up another potential last lap exchange between the iconic rivals.

Indeed, with Lowes seemingly determined to celebrate the title from the top step of the podium, he signalled his intentions by nosing ahead on the penultimate lap at Adelaide, only for Sofuoglu to come back past immediately at 180.

However, their hopes of taking their battle to the last lap would ultimately be nixed by the red flag being deployed with just a few corners remaining.

Oddly, that red flag would seemingly be prompted by a cruel crash for Iddon when he high-sided on the exit of Adelaide. However, while it looked as though he would be duly eliminated from the results, Iddon would remount and continue to parc ferme to keep hold of his maiden podium finish in third.

Further down the order, Fabien Foret produced a marvellous fight-back from 22nd on the grid to grab fourth position, thus protecting his third position in the overall standings, while Sheridan Morais produced his best result since joining Go Eleven Kawasaki with a battling run to fifth.

A race-long tussle between Pata Honda riders Michael van der Mark and Lorenzo Zanetti would be decided in favour of the Dutchman in sixth position, though the latter was also fortunate to be included in the results after crashing before the red flag, only to be reinstated on count-back.

Behind them, Roberto Tamburini, Vladimir Leonov and Alex Baldolini rounding out the top ten, while Jack Kennedy picked up points in 11th, with Raffaele de Rosa and Massimo Roccoli in 12th and 13th.

Completing the points, Kev Coghlan battled back to 14th position after dropping his Kawasaki from an early position of sixth earlier in the race, while Luca Scassa secured the final digit for 15th.