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Brands BSB: Brookes takes dominant race one win

Tyco Suzuki’s Josh Brookes took a dominant MCE British Superbike race win, in the first of three this weekend at Brands Hatch. The rider led from the start and from pole, his first of the year and never looked back or fell off the pace.

The Australian’s solid start in damp conditions meant he was able to set a good gap between himself and fellow rivals, Samsung Honda’s Alex Lowes and Rapid Solicitors Kawasaki’s Shane Byrne. On lap six Brookes had a two second lead and was able to push even further ahead and by lap fourteen had a four second advantage.

But all the action was happening behind him, and there was an intense battle between title rivals Byrne and Lowes. First it was the reigning champ who was in second, with Lowes hot on his heels. The Derby rider tried many times to overtake Byrne, but in the end his move at Surtees on lap fourteen stuck and Lowes was able to plough on ahead.

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Lowes then started to close the gap on Brookes and on the penultimate lap cut the gap between himself and Brookes to just 0.9 seconds, but the Suzuki was too strong and he took maximum points, with Lowes and Byrne completing the rostrum.

With Lowes snatching second from Byrne he now has three point advantage at the top of the championship standings, and Brookes climbs up to third. Halsall Racing’s Josh Waters had an impressive ride. He started the race in determined fashion and was in second behind Brookes.

He was soon overtaken by Lowes and Byrne but managed to hold on to fourth spot, and was able to hold off the advances from Tyco Suzuki’s PJ Jacobsen, who rounded off the top five.

Milwaukee Yamaha’s Tommy Bridewell fought his way through the pack to climb from ninth all the way to sixth, getting the better of Quattro Plant Kawasaki’s Chris Walker, Buildbase BMW’s James Westmoreland and Halsall Racing’s Lee Costello. Veteran racer, Bathams Honda’s Michael Rutter rounded off the top ten.

There were a few technical retirements in the first of the triple headers, most notably Milwaukee Yamaha’s James Ellison. The title fighter started off strongly jumping from fourteenth to eighth on only the first lap, but he experienced issues and dropped back down the grid by lap nine, and five laps later retired to the pits. The Cumbrian now slips to fourth in the overall championship standings.

PR Racing’s Karl Harris and Quattro Plant Kawasaki’s Barry Burrell both retired on lap eight, with Tsingtao WKbikes Howie Mainwaring Smart resorting to the pits two laps later, with a bike issue.

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