Sam Lowes denied by mechanical woes at Donington Park

Lowes finished third in the opening round of the season in Australia

Lincoln's Sam Lowes was forced to retire from round two of the World Supersport Championship at Donington Park with mechanical problems.

Lowes, 20, had started third on the grid for Parkalgar Honda and was running in third when he suffered a clutch failure on lap 12.

Lowes said: "It's a real shame as I was closing in on the two leaders and feel sure that I could have won the race.

"I was upset, I really wanted to win here in front of my home crowd."

He added: "On the positive front we have shown how fast we are as I got the lap record just before retiring."

Italian Luca Scassa, on a Yamaha, went on to make it two wins out of two this season ahead of his team-mate Chaz Davies with Britain's Gino Rea third.

Parkalgar Honda team manager Simon Buckmaster said: "It is immensely disappointing for all of us. However, Sam has again shown a level of maturity and speed that marks him out as something special."

Round three of the World Supersport Championship is at Assen, Netherlands on Sunday, 17 April.