Sam Lowes claimed his fourth victory in a row in Portimão to remain on top of the FIM World Supersport championship table.
The reigining champion - Kenan Sofuoglo - and Fabian Floret on the MAHI Racing Kawasaki's went into the final laps in first and second place, with the ZX-6R's making the most of their straight-line speed.
But Lowes - who was in fourth place with one lap to go - rode incredibly to blast across the line to firmly establish himself as the man to beat for the championship.
The current champion - Sofuoglo - was dispondent afterwards, 'I didn't deserve to win, I didn't have the pace. This year I don't have a good feeling with the bike; I can't understand anything with it. Hopefully by the next race we can make the bike different'.
Floret was also disappointed, 'We had a good strategy as a team but it just didn't work out. It's great to be back on the podium but we are not satisfied. We should have finished in front of Sam.'
Lowes however was jubilant, 'This weekend I have had a nice feeling with the bike and we had good pace in the race. It was a nice battle and I enjoy it with these guyss, hopefully the guys at home had fun watching it.
Next weekend is Imola which Fabien [Floret] has won the last few times, so hopefully I can do something about that.'
When asked about his championship chances he was more cautious, 'For me I love racing bikes and I love winning, so I'm going to try my best at every race and see what happens.'
Portimao - FIM Supersport World Championship - Race
1. Sam Lowes (Yakhnich Motorsport) Yamaha YZF R6 35'32.882
2. Fabien Foret (MAHI Racing Team India) Kawasaki ZX-6R 35'33.262
3. Kenan Sofuoglu (MAHI Racing Team India) Kawasaki ZX-6R 35'33.384
4. Michael Vd Mark (Pata Honda World Supersport) Honda CBR600RR 35'34.204
5. Sheridan Morais (PTR Honda) Honda CBR600RR 35'42.419
6. Jack Kennedy (Rivamoto) Honda CBR600RR 35'44.654
7. Andrea Antonelli (Team Goeleven) Kawasaki ZX-6R 35'46.417
8. Luca Scassa (Kawasaki Intermoto Ponyexpres) Kawasaki ZX-6R 35'46.835
9. Raffaele De Rosa (Team Lorini) Honda CBR600RR 35'47.610
10. Christian Iddon (ParkinGo MV Agusta Corse) MV Agusta F3 675 35'51.638
11. Vladimir Leonov (Yakhnich Motorsport) Yamaha YZF R6 35'51.791
12. Massimo Roccoli (Team Pata by Martini) Yamaha YZF R6 36'04.894
13. Alex Baldolini (Suriano Racing Team) Suzuki GSX-R600 36'04.921
14. Lorenzo Zanetti (Pata Honda World Supersport) Honda CBR600RR 36'05.000
15. Luca Marconi (PTR Honda) Honda CBR600RR 36'06.034
16. David Linortner (Team Honda PTR) Honda CBR600RR 36'12.089
17. Matt Davies (Team Honda PTR) Honda CBR600RR 36'18.084
18. Vladimir Ivanov (Kawasaki DMC-Lorenzini Team) Kawasaki ZX-6R 36'18.120
19. Nacho Calero Perez (Honda PTR) Honda CBR600RR 36'29.111
20. Miguel Praia (Team Lorini) Honda CBR600RR 36'31.904
21. Alex Schacht (Racing Team Toth) Honda CBR600RR 36'31.983
22. Mitchell Carr (AARK Racing) Triumph 675 R 36'33.056
23. Imre Toth (Racing Team Toth) Honda CBR600RR 36'36.638
24. Fabio Menghi (VFT Racing) Yamaha YZF R6 37'13.352
25. Yves Polzer (Team MRC Austria) Honda CBR600RR 35'48.765
26. Eduard Blokhin (Rivamoto) Honda CBR600RR 36'52.285
NC. David Salom (Kawasaki Intermoto Ponyexpres) Kawasaki ZX-6R 36'59.104
RT. Roberto Rolfo (ParkinGo MV Agusta Corse) MV Agusta F3 675 30'54.816
RT. Balazs Nemeth (Complus SMS Racing) Honda CBR600RR 32'03.071
RT. Gabor Talmacsi (Prorace) Honda CBR600RR 21'39.308
RT. Kev Coghlan (Kawasaki DMC-Lorenzini Team) Kawasaki ZX-6R 16'49.528
RT. Mathew Scholtz (Suriano Racing Team) Suzuki GSX-R600 22'09.413
RT. Riccardo Russo (Puccetti Racing Kawasaki) Kawasaki ZX-6R