German WSS: Lowes Comes Out Fighting On Day One

Sam Lowes (Yakhnich Racing Yamaha) took the early advantage in first qualifying session at the Nürburgring in the Supersport class just heading off his only realistic championship challenger Kenan Sofuoglu (Kawasaki Mahi Racing Team India) by 0.114 seconds with a lap of 1’58.993. Lowes came close to Cal Crutchlow’s race lap record but is still over a second from the track best in the class, again set by Crutchlow in 2009. Sofuoglu lost time in the morning free session with a machine problem that held his lap count down to just five, although he completed a full session in the afternoon.

Third was the usually slow-starting Fabien Foret, Sofuoglu’s team-mate, enjoying the rare warm and dry conditions which met the WSS riders on the opening day of a 2013 season race meeting.

Russian Vladimir Leonov, Lowes Yakhnich team-mate, scored fourth in the first of two qualifying sessions, with Pata Honda World Supersport rider Lorenzo Zanetti performing well at one of his favourite circuits in fifth place. That left Jack Kennedy (Rivamoto Honda) in a top six position during his first visit to Germany, while Scot Kevin Coghlan (Kawasaki DMC-Lorenzini) was seventh, despite having a low speed crash in the first timed session.

A massive total of 39 WSS riders turned up at Nürburgring, with all of them well inside the qualifying limit of 107% of the fastest rider’s time.