Kenan Sofuoglu put one hand on the championship by winning today’s World Supersport race at Lausitzring after being pushed hard all the way by new boy Niki Tuuli.

The Puccetti Kawasaki rider took the chequered flag after being stalked for most of the 19 lap race by the impressive Tuuli. MV Agusta Reparto Corse man Jules Cluzel finished third.

Sofuoglu had started from pole with Tuuli alongside him. At the green light both made good starts, but it was the Turkish veteran who got the hole-shot and led the pack into the first corner.

Brit Gino Rea had started from third but lost out almost straight away as both Christoffer Bergman on the CIA Landlord Insurance Honda and the MV of Cluzel passed him.

Within half a lap the Kallio Racing Yamaha of Tuuli took the lead with a brave move past Sofuoglu and within a lap appeared to be pulling a bit of a gap. Meanwhile, Rea was continuing to slip back, and he found himself under pressure for fifth from Randy Krummenacher on the second Puccetti Kawasaki.

With the new kid on the block out in front, Sofuoglu took just one lap to get himself comfortable before easing back into the lead. Tuuli was able to stick with him, and the pair began to pull out a gap from Cluzel and the rest of the field.

Further down, Rea and Krummenacher continued to swap positions but it was the Swiss rider who emerged the strongest, passing Rea on the fifth lap and then moving past Bergman and into fourth a lap later.

Rea’s hopes of clawing back any positions ended abruptly on the eighth lap when the engine of his GRT Racing Team MV Agusta went bang, forcing him out of the race.

Up front nothing had changed, but behind Brit boys Luke Stapleford and Kyle Smith were enjoying a battle to break the top 10. By Lap 11, Stapleford’s Profile Racing Triumph was running in ninth, and being chased hard by Smith’s Honda.

The pair continued to swap places for the remaining eight laps, while further ahead a battle was raging for fifth as Federico Caricasulo on the Bardahl Evan Bros Honda had woken up, and was challenging Bergman, eventually getting through on Lap 13.

Sofuoglu was still leading but the gap closed right down as Tuuli looked threatening behind. But despite getting right up behind the Kawasaki a few times, he didn’t make a move and settled for second, finishing 1.7secs adrift of Sofuoglu. Tuuli did get the fastest lap, however, with a 1’41.035 on Lap Eight.

American PJ Jacobsen was a bit of a late arrival to the party, as the Honda rider came to life in the closing laps, moving up through from loitering around eighth early on to make moves on both Krummenacher and Caricasulo on the penultimate lap to eventually take fourth behind Cluzel.

Caricasulo and Krummenacher crossed the line fifth and sixth respectively, with the MV of Lorenzo Zanetti seventh and Bergman eighth.

Kyle Smith ememerged as first Brit home in ninth, with his Japanese team-mate Hikari Okubo beating Stapleford to tenth after a pass on the final lap. Kyle Ryde, in his first ride on the Schmidt Racing Kawasaki, finished 17th.

Sofuoglu’s win comes as his fifth of the season and the 37th of his WSS career and elevates his points lead to 53 over Krummenacher.