The opening round of the Bennetts British Superbike Championship Showdown produced high drama at Oulton Park as championship leader Jason O'Halloran crashed out after hitting the front of the pack as his teammate Tarran Mackenzie claimed the victory with a last lap move on Josh Brookes. Now just five points separate the McAMS Yamahas at the top of the standings.
At the start of the race, O’Halloran had taken the lead into Old Hall for the first time as the Showdown kicked off in Cheshire, but Brookes was instantly attacking and moved ahead before the pack streamed into Shell on the opening lap.
Championship leader O’Halloran was soon back ahead as the Australians duelled for the leading position with the McAMS Yamaha rider holding the edge on the third lap, before Brookes regained the advantage at Hizzys.
A resurgent Brookes was defending hard on the VisionTrack Ducati from O’Halloran at the front of the field, as the reigning champion bids for a late championship comeback. On the tenth lap, his McAMS Yamaha rival made a decisive move at Knickerbrook as O’Halloran regained command of the race.
However, whilst pushing to break away from Brookes, O’Halloran dramatically crashed out at Knickerbrook on lap 12, handing the lead back to his Title Fighter rival who was holding off Mackenzie, Christian Iddon and Lee Jackson.
Brookes was then defending from Mackenzie, but the McAMS Yamaha rider made his move on the brakes into Hizzys on the final lap, before claiming his sixth win of the season to move within five points of O’Halloran in the standings, slashing his advantage.
Iddon had a dash to the line to hold off Jackson to make it a double podium finish for the VisionTrack Ducati team, whilst Peter Hickman completed the top five for FHO Racing BMW.
Tommy Bridewell stormed up the order from 15th on the grid to finish sixth ahead of Danny Buchan, as the SYNETIQ BMW rider had to work his way through the pack after taking evasive action when Ryan Vickers crashed out ahead of him on the opening lap.
Glenn Irwin, Bradley Ray and Storm Stacey completed the top ten ahead of tomorrow’s two races.
Bennetts British Superbike Championship, Oulton Park, BikeSocial Race 1:
1. Tarran Mackenzie (McAMS Yamaha)
2. Josh Brookes (VisionTrack Ducati) +0.087s
3. Christian Iddon (VisionTrack Ducati) +0.372s
4. Lee Jackson (FS-3 Racing Kawasaki) +0.396s
5. Peter Hickman (FHO Racing BMW) +5.925s
6. Tommy Bridewell (Oxford Products Racing Ducati) +7.181s
7. Danny Buchan (SYNETIQ BMW) +11.476s
8. Glenn Irwin (Honda Racing) +12.087s
9. Bradley Ray (Rich Energy OMG Racing BMW) +15.058s
10. Storm Stacey (Team LKQ Euro Car Parts Kawasaki) +17.796s
For the full result please click here
Bennetts British Superbike Championship standings after Oulton Park Race 1:
1. Jason O'Halloran (McAMS Yamaha) 1071
2. Tarran Mackenzie (McAMS Yamaha) 1066
3. Christian Iddon (VisionTrack Ducati) 1042
4. Tommy Bridewell (Oxford Products Racing Ducati) 1034
5. Peter Hickman (FHO Racing BMW) 1026
6. Danny Buchan (SYNETIQ BMW) 1023
7. Josh Brookes (VisionTrack Ducati) 1022
8. Glenn Irwin (Honda Racing) 1020
For the full standings please click here