Rizla Suzuki's Tom Sykes has taken his first British Superbike win at Oulton Park this afternoon, crossing the line nearly five seconds clear of Hydrex Honda's James Ellison with Shane Byrne getting his worst result of the season in third.
Byrne was involved in an incident with Karl Harris at Shell Hairpin on lap nine. The Yamaha rider ran wide, Byrne dived up the inside and Harris, who hadn't seen him, cut back and the pair collided. Harris crashed and Byrne was able to carry on.
TV cameras caught Harris's team manager Rob McElnea and Colin Wright having what can only be described as a heated debate in pitlane just moments after. The incident is under investigation by race control. Byrne, however, gave Harris a lift back to the pits after the race finished.
Back on the track, Byrne managed to come back past Cal Crutchlow, who had an incident also on lap nine, and Leon Haslam who finished the race fourth. Simon Andrews finished fifth, Crutchlow sixth with Rutter and McConnell rounding out the top eight.
Sykes took the lead into the first corner only to lose it for a few laps to James Ellison of Hydrex Animal Honda, but Sykes got him back on lap seven to then ran away and take the win by 0'04.779s. Crutchlow moved up to third ahead of his team mate Leon Haslam who finished fourth overall.
Flying solo for Airwaves Ducati, Shane Byrne gave himself some work after running down in seventh at the beginning of the race with a gap of 3.5 seconds to the leaders. Crutchlow went down at Brittens and after rejoining in eighth tried to make his way back through the pack.
Relentless Suzuki Michael Laverty has had a quieter weekend, but finishing ninth overall after starting 14th on the grid. Scott Smart just pipped James Haydon for for 11th.
John Laverty of Buildbase NW200 Ducati ran away with the Cup win and finished tenth after his main competitor Gary Mason of Quay Honda Garage retired losing him valuable championship points. Martin Jessopp of Riders Racing took second and Hardinge Ice Valley Motorsport Tom Tunstall rounded off the podium in third place.
The wet race saw 11 non finishers due to both crashes and mechanical problems which included Leon Morris, whose bad luck continued following a retirement on lap one due to what seemed to be another electrical problem.
Shannon Etheridge crashed out on lap ten after have his most successful ride running since he entered into the championship by running as the third cup rider of which he briefly moved into second. Tristian Palmer crashed out from eighth position and was unable to rejoin.
Out of the numerous wildcard riders Kenny Gilbertson of Astro Racing Kawasaki, Howie Mainwaring of Lenzkes Clamping Tools GB Ltd and Francis Williamson of the Moto Rapido Racing retired from the race. Dan Stewart of Wilcock Consulting Honda finished 18th taking fourth cup championship.
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