Tarran Mackenzie dealt his rivals a winning blow in the final Bennetts British Superbike Championship race of the weekend at Snetterton, winning an intense five-lap dash following an earlier red flag, to secure the Pirelli Race of Aces trophy in the closest finish of the season so far.
The race began with Peter Hickman and Ryo Mizuno causing the start to be delayed with a problem on the grid, and the FHO Racing BMW rider would then begin the race from the back of the grid, whilst the Honda Racing rider did not take the restart.
When the race got underway, Mackenzie launched to the front of the pack with a lightening start from pole position to lead Gino Rea and Jason O'Halloran into Riches for the first time.
However championship leader O’Halloran was back ahead of the pack by the end of the opening lap as Bridewell had also pushed Mackenzie down the order into third.
Further down the field, Rory Skinner had a huge moment on the exit of Murrays on the second lap which saw the FS-3 Racing Kawasaki unseated and wrestling to get back into formation. He was incredibly able to regain his composure and continue.
By lap five, Bridewell had seized the advantage at Riches with a decisive move on his McAMS Yamaha rival and he was able to fend off the teammates over the following laps before the race was red flagged on lap nine.
Danny Buchan’s SYNETIQ BMW suffered a technical problem at the end of the Bentley Straight, causing him to crash heavily with Lee Jackson and Andrew Irwin also caught up in the incident. Jackson was unable to make the five lap restart due to damage to his FS-3 Racing Kawasaki, which puts him in a precarious position as he remains in eighth overall in the standings.
The race restarted with a five-lap sprint to the chequered flag, but Mackenzie again got the lead off the start ahead of Rea, but the Buildbase Suzuki rider was soon under attack as Bridewell and O’Halloran both moved ahead.
On the second lap Bridewell launched his bid for the win, taking the lead into Brundle to hold the McAMS Yamaha riders behind him.
Mackenzie was not defeated though, he made a move on Bridewell at Agostini on the penultimate lap to reclaim the lead with the pair going head-to-head on the final lap for the victory.
A mistake from Mackenzie at Nelson wasn’t enough to give Bridewell the opportunity he needed to take the win and just 0.048s separated the pair at the chequered flag with O’Halloran completing the podium line up.
The second place finish gave Bridewell confirmed status as a Title Fighter in the Showdown, with Christian Iddon ending the race in fifth place to become the fourth rider confirmed for the final three round championship fight.
Rea scored his best result of the season in fourth place, and he is one of the ten riders still mathematically in with a chance of the final four places in the Showdown next weekend at Silverstone.
Brookes was sixth in the final race of the weekend as the defending champion sits 13-points adrift of Jackson in the standings.
Hickman delivered an impressive performance to finish in seventh despite his original back row start on the FHO Racing BMW. He missed out by the narrowest of margins of confirming his place in the Showdown – just a single point would have secured his position.
Dan Linfoot had his best result of the season in eighth place ahead of Bradley Ray and Kyle Ryde, who completed the top ten despite his heel injury from the Cadwell Park round.
Bennetts British Superbike Championship, Snetterton, Race 3 result:
1. Tarran Mackenzie (McAMS Yamaha)
2. Tommy Bridewell (Oxford Products Racing Ducati) +0.048s
3. Jason O'Halloran (McAMS Yamaha) +0.952s
4. Gino Rea (Buildbase Suzuki) +1.152s
5. Christian Iddon (VisionTrack Ducati) +1.322s
6. Josh Brookes (VisionTrack Ducati) +1.515s
7. Peter Hickman (FHO Racing BMW) +1.790s
8. Dan Linfoot (TAG Honda) +2.516s
9. Bradley Ray (Rich Energy OMG Racing BMW) +2.620s
10. Kyle Ryde (Rich Energy OMG Racing BMW) +4.138s
For the full result please click here
Bennetts British Superbike Championship standings after Snetterton:
1. Jason O'Halloran (McAMS Yamaha) 399
2. Tarran Mackenzie (McAMS Yamaha) 293
3. Tommy Bridewell (Oxford Products Racing Ducati) 261
4. Christian Iddon (VisionTrack Ducati) 239
5. Peter Hickman (FHO Racing BMW) 224
6. Danny Buchan (SYNETIQ BMW) 174
7. Glenn Irwin (Honda Racing) 161
8. Lee Jackson (FS-3 Racing Kawasaki) 154
For the full standings please click here