Alex Lowes disqualified for Byrne collision
Alex Lowes has been excluded from the results of the second MCE British Superbike Championship race at Assen after he was judged to be at fault for the collision that eliminated key title rival Shane Byrne.
The incident occurred when Lowes attempted a pass for the lead into the high-speed Hoge Heide left-hander, where he had completed a successful last lap pass for the win in race one.
However, with Byrne holding his line on this occasion and Lowes unable to prevent the Honda from running out wide, the youngster would clip Byrne's Kawasaki at the rear, sending the reigning champion down at high-speed.
Coming after both riders had lauded one another for their skill in race one by dicing without overt aggression, the accident would see a limping Byrne taken to the medical centre, while Lowes was able to race on to claim his sixth successive BSB win.
However, after a lengthy review by race stewards and race director Stuart Higgs, Lowes was judged to have been at fault for the incident and has duly been punished with exclusion from the results.
"The Race Director, the Judicial Clerk of the Course in the presence of the Riders' Judicial/Stewards Advisor considered the incident during MCE BSB race 2 between Alex Lowes (#22) and Shane Byrne (#67) at Turn 14 on Lap 4," read a brief statement.
"Evidence was reviewed including broadcast, CCTV and on-board footage, marshals reports, ECU data and an explanation from the riders.
"A penalty of exclusion from the race result has been inflicted on #22 Alex Lowes for causing contact which resulted in an accident.
"The right of appeal was advised to the affected parties."
Lowes's exclusion serves to close the BSB standings once again, the Samsung Honda rider remaining one point adrift of Byrne in the standings with two rounds and five races remaining.
His disqualification also promoted James Ellison to his third win of the season, in turn putting him into third overall in the standings, with PJ Jacobsen and Ryuichi Kiyoanri rounding out the revised podium.
