It’s the Showdown sort out. This weekend’s MCE British Superbike triple-header at Oulton Park will decide who joins Shane Byrne, Leon Haslam and Jason O’Halloran in the final six that will fight for the 2016 championship trophy.
The top three sorted themselves out at Cadwell Park and bookies’ title favourite Shane Byrne is now focussing on racking up as many podium credits as possible before Donington Park when the actual title fight begins.
I’m really looking forward to the last of the pre-Showdown rounds at Oulton Park and having cemented my place at the last round at Cadwell Park, in some ways the pressure’s off a little. However, I don’t work like that, I look at this final round being a triple header as a great opportunity to score a potential 15 more Podium Points in order to start the Showdown with the biggest possible advantage. Oulton Park is a fantastic track and I can’t wait to ride this weekend,” said the Be Wiser Ducati man.
In the fight for the last three, it’s close, very close. Michael Laverty leads the chase on 147 points but the Irishman hasn’t been able to find the kind of form he would expect this season, blowing hot and cold with the Tyco BMW, plus Oulton isn’t his favourite circuit in the world.
Dan Linfoot is only two points behind Laverty and is desperate to get back to the kind of consistency that saw him take four podiums in four races at Knockhill and Snetterton. Haslam’s JG Speedfit Kawasaki team-mate James Ellison is the last of the top six as it stands now and made some headway with the ZX-10R’s mapping and fuelling problems at Cadwell but it remains to be seen whether those changes will transfer to a different track with likely different air temperatures.
Richard Cooper has been in and out of the top six all year and might well be doing a little rain dance as the Buildbase BMW is more than happy skidding around on the wet stuff. Luke Mossey, on the Quattro Kawasaki, is also in with a shot while Peter Hickman, another man very adept in the rain, might make it into the Showdown but could be at the expense of his JG Speedfit team-mate Ellison.
Christian Iddon got his season off to a fantastic start and led the championship when the BSB circus left a wet Oulton earlier in the year but his form and, it seems, confidence have taken a bashing. The Stockport man is only 20 points behind Ellison, though and there are 75 up for grabs.
Get your tickets here, old son
Lap records
Oulton Park International – 2.6920 miles
Superbike Josh Brookes Yamaha 1’34.483 102.57mph 06/09/15
Supersport Luke Stapleford Triumph 1’37.360 99.54mph 06/09/15
Superstock 1000 Jason O’Halloran Honda 1’36.778 100.13mph 09/08/14
Superstock 600 Mason Law Kawasaki 1’39.578 97.32mph 06/09/15
Motostar Taz Taylor KTM 1’44.044 93.14mph 06/09/15
Ducati Cup Leon Morris Ducati 1’41.860 95.14mph 03/05/15
F1 Sidecar Tim Reeves Kawasaki 1’42.571 94.48mph 04/05/15
KTM RC Cup Cameron Fraser KTM 1’58.123 82.04mph 05/09/15
What’s on and when
FRIDAY
09.00 – 09.25 Pirelli National Superstock 600 in association with Black Horse Free Practice
09.35 – 10.05 Dickies British Supersport Free Practice 1
10.15 – 11.00 MCE BRITISH SUPERBIKES in association with PIRELLI Free Practice 1
11.10 – 11.30 HEL Performance British Motostar Free Practice 1
11.40 – 12.05 Pirelli National Superstock 1000 in association with Black Horse Free Practice
12.15 – 12.35 // Ducati TriOptions Cup Free Practice
13.20 – 13.45 Pirelli National Superstock 600 in association with Black Horse Qualifying 1
13.55 – 14.25 Dickies British Supersport Free Practice 2
14.35 – 14.55 HEL Performance British Motostar Free Practice 2
15.05 – 15.50 MCE BRITISH SUPERBIKES in association with PIRELLI Free Practice 2
16.00 – 16.25 Pirelli National Superstock 1000 in association with Black Horse Qualifying 1
16.35 – 16.55 Ducati TriOptions Cup Qualifying
SATURDAY
09.00 – 09.30 HEL Performance British Motostar Qualifying 1
09.40 – 10.25 MCE BRITISH SUPERBIKES in association with PIRELLI Free Practice 3
10.35 – 11.00 Pirelli National Superstock 600 in association with Black Horse Qualifying 2
11.10 – 11.35 Pirelli National Superstock 1000 in association with Black Horse Qualifying 2
11.45 – 12.10 Dickies British Supersport Qualifying
MCE BRITISH SUPERBIKES in association with PIRELLI DATATAG EXTREME QUALIFYING
12.20 – 12.38 Q1
12.45 – 12.57 Q2
13.04 Superpole
13.30 – 14.10 Club MCE VIP Pillion and Safety Car laps
14.20 – 14.50 HEL Performance British Motostar Qualifying 2
15.10 Ducati TriOptions Cup 10 laps
15.45 Pit lane opens for MCE BSB race one: Club MCE and VIP grid walk
16.00 MCE BRITISH SUPERBIKES in association with PIRELLI – Race 1 18 laps
16.45 Dickies British Supersport – Sprint 12 laps
17.30 – 17.40 Pirelli National Superstock 600 in association with Black Horse Free Practice
17.50 – 18.00 Pirelli National Superstock 1000 in association with Black Horse Free Practice
18.00 Nissan GT-R Safety Car filming laps
SUNDAY
09.30 – 11.30 Club MCE/Rock Oil/ Nissan Safety Car laps
10.30 – 11.15 Pit Walk
12.00 – 12.10 MCE BRITISH SUPERBIKES in association with PIRELLI Warm up
12.15 – 12.23 HEL Performance British Motostar Warm up
12.28 – 12.36 Dickies British Supersport Warm up
12.50 Ducati TriOptions Cup 10 laps
13.20 Pit lane opens for MCE BSB race two: Club MCE and VIP grid walk
13.35 MCE BRITISH SUPERBIKES in association with PIRELLI – Race 2 18 laps
14.20 Pirelli National Superstock 1000 in association with Black Horse 14 laps
15.00 HEL Performance British Motostar 12 laps
15.45 Dickies British Supersport – Feature 15 laps
16.20 Pit lane opens for MCE BSB race three: Club MCE and VIP grid walk
16.35 MCE BRITISH SUPERBIKES in association with PIRELLI - Race 3 18 laps
17.25 Pirelli National Superstock 600 in association with Black Horse 12 laps
On the telly
Saturday
British Eurosport 2 - 11.30-13.30; 15.30-17.30
Sunday
British Eurosport 2 - 12.30
Have a lap
What Pirelli say
