Samsung Honda’s Alex Lowes fought till the bitter end with championship rival, Rapid Solicitors Kawasaki’s Shane Byrne to take a hard fought MCE British Superbike victory in the opening race this afternoon.
On the first lap it was Byrne who stormed straight to the front of the pack, with Lowes not far behind. But the crocked defending champ went slightly wide and the Derby lad was able to take advantage of the mistake and took the lead going into the Hangar Straight.
On the penultimate lap Byrne closed the gap on Lowes and both riders were side by side. But all the drama happened on the final lap. Byrne was able to make a pass going into Maggots Corner, but his lead was not to last as Lowes made a pass that stuck going into Brooklands and even though Byrne, who is still recovering from a hip injury tried his best to take the 25 points it was not enough, and the Honda just had the pace going out of Luffield and clinched a tight race win and he now leads the championship for the first time this year.
By lap nine Lowes and Byrne pushed ahead and Tyco Suzuki’s PJ Jacobsen was trailing three seconds behind in third, followed by Milwaukee Yamaha’s Tommy Bridewell, but the New Yorker was not able to check off the charge of the Devizes Swearbox, and the Yamaha ride made a move on lap eleven to go into third. The American was not giving up the fight and stayed on the bike of Bridewell till the very end, with the Brit taking third followed by Jacobsen.
But it was heart-break for Tyco Suzuki’s Josh Brookes. The title challenger was in third, chasing down Byrne for second, but had a technical problem on lap five at Stowe and was unable to make it across the finishing line.
Milwaukee Yamaha’s James Ellison powered through the grid and ended the race in fifth. The Cumbrian did start from eighteenth on the grid and after only the first lap made up nine places and made his way inside the top ten. He had Buildbase BMW’s James Westmoreland in his sights and by lap seven had overtaken GBmoto’s Peter Hickman to go into sixth. A lap alter Ellison got the better of Jon Kirkham to push his way into the top five.
Kirkham, Hickman and Westmoreland safely made it inside the points, with Rapido Sport Racing’s Matteo Baiocco crossed the finishing line in ninth, with Quattro Plant Kawasaki’s Barry Burrell rounding off the top ten.
There were a few crashes out on the Northamptonshire track. On lap one GBmoto’s Dan Linfoot and Rapid Solicitors Kawasaki’s Noriyuki Haga collided and fell at Vale, but were declared OK at the track side. Riders BMW’s Martin Jessopp retired to the pits a technical problem on lap five, and was later joined by Tsingtao WKbikes rider Howie Mainwaring Smart.
