BeerMonster Ducati’s Tommy Bridewell put behind him the earlier disappointment of being hit with a time penalty to win the third and final British Superbike Championship race of the weekend at Oulton Park.

Bridewell came home more than a second clear of team-mate Glenn Irwin to take his eighth win of the season with just half a point between them in the championship standings. Lee Jackson (Cheshire Mouldings Kawasaki) finished third for his third podium of the weekend.

Pole sitter Bridewell led into Old Hall from Irwin and Leon Haslam (ROKiT BMW Motorrad Team) and that was the running order at the end of the opening lap with Kyle Ryde (LAMI OMG Racing Yamaha), Jackson and Josh Brookes (FHO Racing BMW) rounding out the top six. Jackson immediately overhauled Ryde for fourth at the start of the next lap only for the Yamaha man to reclaim the position at Hizzy’s on lap three.

The running order remained Bridewell, Irwin, Haslam, Ryde, Jackson and Brookes on lap four with Christian Iddon (Oxford Products Ducati) right on Brookes’ rear wheel to make it a seven-rider battle for the lead, just 1.2s covering them although overtaking was proving scarce.

Irwin took the lead for the first time on the fifth lap as he slipped up the inside of Bridewell going into Lodge, the freight train continuing behind them, OMG Racing’s Ryan Vickers now on the back of Iddon to make it an eight-rider battle.

Bridewell re-took the lead at Old Hall at the start of the eighth lap only for Irwin to briefly respond at Lodge at the end of the lap. However, Bridewell was back in the lead by the time they crossed the line as the two team-mates continued to duke it out.

At half race distance, Haslam and Jackson were sticking with the two Ducatis with a three quarters of a second gap to fifth placed Ryde who still had Brookes, Vickers and Iddon for close company.

Starting lap 11, Bridewell and Irwin had clean air between themselves and the chasing pack for the first time, the duo both posting their best laps of the race to pull away and with a gap of more than a second to third placed Haslam, it again looked like it would be a fight to the end between the duo.

Lap 13 saw Bridewell and Irwin set new personal best laps as they pulled 1.5s clear of new third place rider Jackson who was also lapping quicker than ever as he strived to close the gap although his efforts looked to be in vain.

Starting the penultimate lap, Bridewell’s lead was up to 0.6s, the biggest it had been all race, and with the fastest lap of the race, 1’34.007, he never looked back eventually taking the chequered flag from Irwin by 1.1s.

Jackson never gave up and finished a further second back in third with Haslam taking a lonely fourth as Brookes got the better of Ryde for sixth. Iddon, Vickers, Jason O’Halloran (McAMS Yamaha) and Storm Stacey (Starline Racing Kawasaki) completed the top ten