Shane Byrne is in the driving seat to secure an all important place among the elite six title-fighter riders who go forward to the Showdown sequence that will decide this year’s MCE-BSB crown and the Rapid Solicitors Kawasaki rider knows that a hat-trick in this crucial seventh round will do the job for him.

The three times winner of the crown, Byrne, has won eight of the dozen races so far to open up a 21 points advantage (down to seven points in terms of podium credits) over Samsung Honda’s Alex Lowes who is looking for a repeat of his winning ride in the earlier visit to the Cheshire circuit this season.

Like Byrne, Lowes is well on the way to the Showdown and this is also the case for Tyco Suzuki’s Josh Brookes, highly consistent, and a race winner last time out at Snetterton to be only a single point down on Lowes.

But, adrift of them, there is an anxious time with these three races, and the next four at Cadwell Park and Donington Park, all important to the title aspirations of riders like James Ellison riding Milwaukee Yamana, Ryuichi Kiyonari on the second Samsung Honda and the Buildbase BMW duo of Jon Kirkham and James Westmoreland.

Those four riders, separated by only 20 points going into this triple header, know that they cannot afford any slip up and that they need to be running at the sharp-end of the pack. For them podium finishes are a minimum requirement, but give the consistent front-running form of Byrne, Lowes and Brookes those placings are not going to come easily.

For them, anxious times, but for the racegoers the potential for some of the best action of the season as those seven riders try to squeeze into six places – and, don’t rule out the likes of four times BSB runner-up Chris Walker on the Quattro Plant Kawasaki and PJ Jacobsen on the second Tyco Suzuki who can still mathematically make the Showdown. Oulton will also see the debut of Jamie Poole who is making the step up from National Superstock 1000.

All to play for, but the one who can count on the best Oulton Park pedigree is Kiyonari, like Byrne bidding for a fourth BSB title. The Japanese rider who returns from a problematic time in the Suzuka Eight Hours race has won 10 of his 43 BSB races at the Cheshire circuit, including the final round hat-trick that sealed his 2010 crown.

Should be interesting, and, so should the ongoing scrap for the Motorpoint British Supersport crown. Alastair Seeley has the edge aboard his Gearlink Kawasaki from Flying Scot Stuart Easton on the MarTrain Yamaha but both need to check the form of Ben Wilson on the second Gearlink bike.

Around them, the usual array of Pirelli National 600 and 1000 Superstock action plus Monster Energy Motostar and Ducati TriOption 848 Challenge make it a big sporting programme.

Weekend race schedule

FRIDAY

09.00 – 09.20 Monster Energy Motostar Free Practice 1

09.30 – 10.00 Motorpoint British Supersport Free Practice 1

10.10 – 10.55 MCE INSURANCE BRITISH SUPERBIKES in association with PIRELLI Free Practice 1

11.00 – 11.25 Pirelli National Superstock 600 in association with Black Horse Free Practice

11.35 – 11.55 Pirelli National Superstock 1000 in association with Black Horse – Group A Free Practice

12.00 – 12.20 // Pirelli National Superstock 1000 in association with Black Horse – Group B Free Practice

13.05 – 13.25 Monster Energy Motostar Free Practice 2

13.35 – 14.05 Motorpoint British Supersport Free Practice 2

14.15 – 15.00 MCE INSURANCE BRITISH SUPERBIKES in association with PIRELLI Free Practice 2

15.10 – 15.35 Pirelli National Superstock 600 in association with Black Horse Qualifying 1

15.45 – 16.05 Pirelli National Superstock 1000 in association with Black Horse – Group A Qualifying 1

16.10 – 16.30 Pirelli National Superstock 1000 in association with Black Horse – Group B Qualifying 1

16.40 – 17.00 Ducati TriOptions Challenge Free Practice

SATURDAY

09.00 – 09.25 Monster Energy Motostar Qualifying 1

09.35 – 10.05 MCE BRITISH SUPERBIKES IN ASSOCIATION WITH PIRELLI Free Practice 3

10.15 – 10.40 Pirelli National Superstock 600 in association with Black Horse Qualifying 2

10.45 – 11.05 Pirelli National Superstock 1000 in association with Black Horse – Group A Qualifying 2

11.10 – 11.30 Pirelli National Superstock 1000 in association with Black Horse – Group B Qualifying 2

11.40 – 12.10 Motorpoint British Supersport Qualifying

12.20 – 13.14 MCE BRITISH SUPERBIKES Q1 in association with PIRELLI

13.25 – 13.45 Ducati TriOptions 848 Challenge Qualifying

13.50 – 14.10 Club MCE/VIP laps

14.15 – 14.40 Monster Energy Motostar Qualifying 2

14.55 Pirelli National Superstock 1000 in association with Black Horse - LCQ 7 laps

15.25 Motorpoint British Supersport 10 laps

16.00 Pit lane opens for MCE BSB race one: Club MCE and VIP grid walk

16.15 MCE BRITISH SUPERBIKES IN ASSOCIATION WITH PIRELLI 16 laps

17.00 Ducati TriOptions 848 Challenge 10 laps

17.30 – 17.40 Pirelli National Superstock 600 in association with Black Horse Warm up

17.50 – 18.00 Pirelli National Superstock 1000 in association with Black Horse Warm up

18.10 – 18.30 Nissan GT-R Safety Car filming

SUNDAY

09.30 – 11.30 Club MCE/Nissan VIP Safety Car rides

10.30 – 11.15 Pit Walk

12.00 – 12.10 MCE BRITISH SUPERBIKES IN ASSOCIATION WITH PIRELLI Warm up

12.15 – 12.23 Monster Energy Motostar Warm up

12.28 – 12.36 Motorpoint British Supersport Warm up

12.50 Ducati TriOptions 848 Challenge 10 laps

13.25 Pit lane opens for MCE BSB race two: Club MCE and Nissan VIP grid walk

13.40 MCE BRITISH SUPERBIKES IN ASSOCIATION WITH PIRELLI 18 laps

14.25 Pirelli National Superstock 1000 in association Black Horse 14 laps

15.10 Monster Energy Motostar 12 laps

15.50 Motorpoint British Supersport 15 laps

16.25 Pit lane opens for MCE BSB race three: Club MCE and Nissan VIP grid walk

16.40 MCE BRITISH SUPERBIKES IN ASSOCIATION WITH PIRELLI 18 laps

17.30 Pirelli National Superstock 600 in association Black Horse 12 laps

What happened last time out (data courtesy Pirelli)

Go for a lap with legend Mike 'Spike' Edwards