Lowes reflective over Sofuoglu’s punt
Sofuoglu claims he was unaware Lowes had crashed. Hodgson furious over aggressive move.
SAM Lowes hasn't been drawn into a war of words with Kenan Sofuoglu, despite being punted off by the Turkish rider on the last lap of Silverstone's World Supersport race.
Lowes crashed after he was hit by Sofuoglu but managed to remount and still finish second as the pair had built a huge gap over the following riders. You can see the crash here.
The Yakhnich Yamaha team filed a protest with race direction plus an appeal to the FIM stewards regarding the move, however Sofuoglu has not been punished.
Although in parc ferme after the race Lowes said he was going to be the bigger person about the manoeuvre, he told bikesportnews.com afterwards: “At the end of the day I have made more passes than anyone in the championship and I have never knocked anyone off, as I am that sort of rider, but he has a few times. Part of me can’t help but think that in a first gear corner that he meant to do that. My opinion is that he did it on purpose.
"I don’t dislike him, he is a good motorbike racer, but I am a little bit gutted as I feel that move was a bit harsh because I fell off. In my opinion it was not on.”
This isn't the first time that Kenan Sofuoglu has made a controversial move; the Turk has a history of aggressive moves and overtakes in World Supersport, Superbike and Moto2, causing other riders to fall off and leaving behind him a string of complaints and a battered reputation.
Talking to Charlie Hiscott in Parc Ferme after the race, Sofuoglu said: “He passed me pushed me wide and next corner I tried to do the same but we touched. Maybe he didn’t crash and I didn’t crash because actually I could crash.”
Although Kenan had spoken to his team in Parc Ferme before the interview, Hiscott had to interrupt him to explain that Lowes did crash and Sofuoglu continued: “Sam crash? I didn’t know.”
And this is what Hodgson had to say about it live on air.
Neil Hodgson said: “There is no room to make that move basically. It’s an incredibly aggressive move. It’s a block pass. It’s the ultimate block pass because basically you know you’re not going to make the corner…
“We love close racing, we love aggressive racing but there’s no way he’s going to make the corner unless he runs into Sam and you’ve got to be penalised for that again. We need the organisers to do something about it.”
Sam Lowes is still leading the championship by 29 points ahead of Sofuoglu, only losing out on five points last weekend.
