Carl Harris crossed the line to take his maiden Sportbike victory at Cadwell Park this morning, beating Asher Durham by almost half a second.
The opening race of the day brought 12 laps of non-stop action at the sharp end, on a track which had a few damp patches following an earlier shower.
Polesitter Zak Shelton, who had dominated practice and qualifying was beaten off the line by Cameron Dawson as Harris slotted into third place.
It took Harris just a few corners to find a way past Shelton and into second position and as the pack headed into the damper section, Harris came into his own, scorching past Dawson and into the lead.
The ROKiT Rookie quickly pulled almost a full second lead but Shelton – who had dropped to fourth – was on a charge and by Lap Four was back into second place, the gap down to half a second as he chased down Harris.
Shelton hit the front on the fifth lap with a move into Park but made a mistake later in the lap, allowing Harris to come straight back through. The pair swapped places again a lap later before Richard Cooper found his way to the front on Lap Seven.
Cooper’s time at the front lasted just two laps as Harris once again hit the front on Lap Nine as behind, Cooper had his hands full with a charging Asher Durham who had just passed Shelton to move third.
With a lap to go, Shelton managed to pass Durham and Cooper before storming past Harris to lead onto the final lap. But the race was far from over.
Harris quickly found his way past Shelton and back into the lead as Durham pulled a bold move on both Cooper and Shelton. Harris now had enough of a lead to cross the line 0.466secs clear of Durham for the win as Cooper made a late move on Shelton to take third.
Shelton crossed the line fourth and 0.177secs behind Cooper as points leader Alfie Davidson rounded out the top five.
Pirelli British Sportbike Championship, Race result:
1. Carl Harris (ROKiT Rookies)
2. Asher Durham (Powerslide Suzuki Racing) +0.466s
3. Richard Cooper (Moto12/CFMOTO) +0.616s
4. Zak Shelton (XMT Racing) +0.793s
5. Alfie Davidson (Aprilia IN Competition Racing) +1.216s
Championship positions after Round Eight:
1. Alfie Davidson 244
2. Asher Durham 232
3. Harley McCabe 179
4. Cameron Dawson 155
5. Adon Davie 153