Be Wiser Ducati’s Shane Byrne has extended his lead in the MCE British Superbike series, after he was able to finish a wet race one at Brands Hatch in sixth place. His rival, JG Speedfit Kawasaki’s Leon Haslam crashed going into Graham Hill bend, but has been declared fit to take part in the double header tomorrow.
Byrne’s ten points means that he now has a 27 point advantage over the ZX-10R racer, and that Haslam is still in contention for the title. Meanwhile it was a different JG Speedfit Kawasaki rider who took the race one victory, and that was Peter Hickman.
The road racing star excelled in the wet conditions and dominated from the front and held Tyco BMW’s Christian Iddon and Be Wiser Ducati’s Glenn Irwin at bay. When the chequered flag
appeared the S1000RR and Panigale completed the rather wet rostrum. Honda Racing’s Dan Linfoot was just edged by Irwin on the final lap, with Bennetts Suzuki’s Tommy Bridewell rounding up the top five.
There were two red flags and two restarts. At first there was a big crash at Sheene Curve for ePayMe Yamaha’s Broc Parkes. He fell right in the middle of the track on the second lap, and James Rispoli collided with the R1 of the Australian and ended in the gravel.
Then the red flags came out on lap three as Quattro Plant Kawasaki’s Filip Backlund and Anvil Hire TAG Yamaha’s Howie Mainwaring had a huge crash at Hawthorns, and they were both taken to the medical centre. Then the race had to be restarted.
Most of the rider’s opted for the zero rear Pirelli tyre, including Haslam and Byrne. Mossey decided to go with the SC1 rear. Many raced with the softer SC1 front tyre, with Iddon, Cooper, Ellison, Hopkins and Parkes going for the SC2 compound.
Before the re-scheduled race it was Iddon who had the hole-shot, followed by pole-sitter Bridewell and O’Halloran. Meanwhile Byrne went from fourth to second at Westfield, but then the opening race of the weekend was brought to an abrupt halt due to the red flags.
When the rider’s lined up on the start grid once again it was O’Halloran who got the hole-shot, but it was Haslam who had the best start from the third row and at Graham Hill was up to third on the first lap. But then the red flags came out for the second time today as rain started to fall out on sector two at Hawthorn and the rider’s made their way back to the pits again.
The race was given a new race distance of 15 laps and declared a wet race. All the racers went with the full wet tyre set-up. For the third time today it was Iddon who got the hole-shot, but then
Haslam crashed at Graham Hill Bend and was taken to the medical centre on only the first lap.
But Haslam was not the only Showdown rider to fall, as Honda Racing’s Jason O’Halloran crashed at Surtees, but was declared OK at the trackside. Further up the front of the pack it was the battle of the remaining JG Speedfit Kawasaki bikes with Ellison and Hickman fighting for the win on lap four, with Linfoot hot on their tails.
But two rotations later Ellison crashed at Graham Hill whilst in the lead, and the safety car came out with ten laps remaining. The car came in after three laps and as soon as the safety car went back in to the pits Cooper got pinged over his S1000RR going into Paddock Hill, but was declared OK at the track. When the soggy chequered flag appeared it was Hopkins, Jackson, Seeley, Smrz, Laverty, McConnell, Mossey, Kiyonari who were the last of the points finishers.
