Milwaukee Yamaha’s Josh Brookes led from the start to bag his first MCE British Superbike win with his new team at Oulton Park this afternoon. The Australian rider was able to keep Rapid Solicitors Kawasaki’s Shane Byrne at bay to take maximum points in the final outing this afternoon.
No matter how hard Byrne tried he couldn’t find a move that stuck to claim the double at the Cheshire track. In a repeat of the first race GBmoto Kawasaki’s James Ellison had another lonely outing, but still finished on the third step on the rostrum, albeit four seconds behind the leading duelling pair.
Brookes had a great start and remained in the lead on the opening lap followed by Byrne, Walker and Ellison. Then on the second lap Byrne took the lead at Old Hall, only for Brookes to get back in front at Brittens as the bikes touched, and the Aussie pushed on ahead.
It was not a good race weekend for Buildbase BMW’s Ryuichi Kiyonari. In a repeat of the opening race he had a technical problem, but this time at Lakeside. The Japanese rider started the final race of the day on the front row and looked like he would come close to clinching his first podium for his new team – but unfortunately this was not to be and his race ended on lap four.
By lap six the trio of Brookes, Byrne and Ellison had a one second gap over Easton and ploughed on ahead. Further down the grid there was a battle for seventh between Anvil Hire Tag Racing’s Richard Cooper, Buildbase BMW’s James Westmoreland and Quattro Plant Kawasaki’s Dan Linfoot. Last year’s Motorpoint British Supersport contender Cooper did set the pace, but crashed at Hizzys, leaving Westmoreland to comfortably to go to seventh and had Walker, in sixth place in his sights on lap fourteen.
With three laps to go Brookes and Byrne pulled away from Ellison by a second and the battle for the win was definitely on. But on the final lap the bikes were side by side, and it looked like Byrne was going to overtake at Island bend, but couldn’t. The triple champ tried again at Lodge, but Brookes had the edge and claimed his first win with his Milwaukee Yamaha team.
Ellison completed the top three for the second time today with Rapid Solicitors Kawasaki’s Stuart Easton and Milwaukee Yamaha’s Tommy Bridewell rounding off the top five. Westmoreland was able to fend off the charges of Linfoot and even overtook GBmoto Kawasaki's Chris Walker to finish the day sixth and seventh respectively. Tyco Suzuki’s John Hopkins and Tsingtao’s Jon Kirkham ended the race inside the top ten.
FFX Yamaha’s Ian Hutchinson fell at Lodge but walked away unharmed. It was a case of déjà vu for PR Racing’s Keith Famer, as he crashed for the second time this weekend, but this time at Island.
