GNS Racing Sam Lowes put in a faultless ride at Knockhill today when he took his second win of the year in the Fuchs-Silkolene British Supersport Championship on the 600cc Honda. Having taken the lead on the eighth lap, the 19-year-old pulled rapidly away from the rest of the pack to secure his second win of the year and take a 15-point lead in the Championship table.

Lowes was again solid in free practice and qualifying, held in dry weather, and was never outside the top five, eventually qualifying in fifth place. However, race day was anything but dry with heavy rain and strong winds hitting the Scottish circuit. Sam was equally comfortable in the wet though and, after completing the first lap in fourth place, he was up to third a lap later right in the wheel tracks of Glen Richards and Ian Hutchinson.

The pace car came out for three laps on lap five but when it went in Sam made his move and immediately moved to the front of the pack. Lapping over a second quicker than anyone else, he was almost six seconds clear when the race was stopped due to a number of incidents out on the track. The race was declared a result and with Sam's main rivals James Westmoreland and Billy McConnell only finishing in 6th and 12th respectively, the 25 points for the win have seen him move into the Championship lead at the half way stage of the season.

One of the fallers that caused the red flag was second GNS Racing rider Paul Jordan, the young Ulsterman crashing out of 17th place, fortunately without injury. The 19-year-old had been having a strong ride just on the edge of the points but, more importantly, also lying in third place in the Cup. However, he was one of many riders to fall foul of the difficult conditions although he still lies in fourth place overall in the Cup standings.


Sam Lowes:

"Fifth place in qualifying wasn't quite where I wanted to be but, wet or dry, my lap times were consistent so when I saw it was going to be a wet race, I just wanted to have a clean few laps before getting my head down. Once I got some clear track, I just tried to keep as smooth as possible and it all worked out perfectly. The bike was fantastic all weekend, as it has been all year and I'm over the moon to get my second win of the year. I'm leading the Championship now, which is obviously where I want to be, and with the Yamaha boys having a bit of an off day, there's a bit of a gap there now although there's still a long way to go. A massive thank you to all the team and sponsors again for giving me a great package to go out there and do the business."

Paul Jordan:

"I hit the white line on and highsided, but luckily I'm just a bit battered and bruised. I'm disappointed for myself and the team. I was struggling on Friday and couldn't get on the pace but I improved on Saturday but it was too far to catch up really. I'm looking forward to Snetterton as I go well there so hopefully we can get back up there in the championship."

Gary Subbington (Team Owner):

"I'm pleased for Sam and the team worked exceptionally well again with some very difficult weather conditions to contend with. We knew we had a good bike set up from the morning warm up and the engineers worked well all weekend. We've proved another point that we are moving on with the team and if we continue what we are doing the plan is hopefully, if we can get the sponsorship, to move into the Superbike Championship with the same team next year. It's just a shame that Paul crashed out because he would definitely have been on the podium and more importantly, would have been leading the championship but hopefully he can bounce back at Snetterton."

Fuchs Silkolene British Supersport 600cc Championship (13 laps)
1 Sam Lowes (GNS Racing Honda) 12m24.995s
2 Ben Wilson (Kawasaki) +5.624s
3 Daniel Cooper (Triumph) +6.015s
4 Ian Hutchinson (Honda) +6.788s
5 Alex Lowes (Yamaha) +7.078s
6 James Westmoreland (Yamaha) +7.227s
7 Glen Richards (Honda) +7.518s
8 Graeme Gowland (Honda) +8.505s
9 Jack Kennedy (Yamaha) +8.672s
10 Jason OHalloran (Yamaha) +8.892s



Fuchs Silkolene British Supersport 600cc Cup (13 laps)
1 Luke Mossey (Triumph)
2 Patrick McDougall (Yamaha)
3 Jenny Tinmouth (Honda)
4 Craig McLelland (Kawasaki)
5 Max Hunt (Yamaha)
DNF Paul Jordan (GNS Racing Honda)


Championship standings (after 6 rounds)
1 Lowes (GNS Racing Honda) 106pts
2 Westmoreland 91
3 McConnell 83
4 Wilson 63
5 Gowland 62
6 Kennedy 60


Cup standings (after 6 rounds)
1 McDougall 87pts
2 Tinmouth 82
3 Kneen 68
4 Jones 68
5 Jordan (GNS Racing Honda) 64