JG Speedfit Kawasaki’s Peter Hickman crossed the finishing line in the final MCE British Superbike race of the day in first place, after out-pacing Be Wiser Ducati’s Shane Byrne in a fight that went all the way down to the final corner on the last lap.
Only 0.99s separated Hickman and Byrne when the chequered flag appeared with the road racer clinching a tight victory. Tyco BMW’s Christian Iddon ended race-two in third, and comes away from the opening BSB round at Silverstone with a 100 percent podium record. It was also déjà vu for Byrne who bagged another second place, and now leads the championship, going in to the second British Superbike round.
Initially, Honda Racing’s Dan Linfoot started on pole and shared the front row with Byrne and Hickman, with the JG Speedfit man getting the hole-shot on the first lap, with Laverty and Linfoot in hot pursuit.
But the race-one winner, Tyco BMW’s Michael Laverty got the better of Hickman at Maggotts to go into the lead on lap two. All the riders apart from Hopkins and Easton went for the harder option rear tyre, with the American and Scot opting for the soft rear compound. Two rotations later the battle for third was intensifying between Linfoot and Byrne, with the multiple-champ snatching third at Copse.
But Hickman was not giving up on the fight and ploughed past Laverty at Stowe on lap seven to lead the race, only for Laverty to bite back. But it appeared the Northern Irishman had a problem as he fell back down the order allowing Byrne, Iddon and O’Halloran to go past.
On the penultimate lap Iddon was holding on to third while Haslam and O’Halloran battled with fourth with the pair exchanging places out on track. On the final lap the leading trio of Hickman, Byrne and Iddon broke away from the rest, and on the final corner Byrne hit back and went into the lead only for Hickman to go underneath him to take a tight win.
O’Halloran held off Haslam to take fourth, with the JG Speedfit rider rounding off the top five. Laverty finished in sixth, followed by Buildbase BMW’s Lee Jackson. JG Speedfit’s James Ellison, Linfoot and Quattro Plant Kawasaki’s Luke Mossey completed the top ten. Bennetts Suzuki’s Ryuichi Kiyonari, Be Wiser Ducati’s Glenn Irwin, RAF BMW’s Alastair Seeley and Smiths BMW’s Jakub Smrz were the last of the points finishers.
It was not a good outing for Team WD-40 Kawasaki’s Jack Kennedy who retired to the pits with a bike issue after only four laps. Kennedy may have been the first to the first rider to retire to the pits, but he certainly was not the last. ePayMe Yamaha’s John Hopkins and Stuart Easton both retired with what appeared to be issues with their R1’s. Moto Rapido Ducati’s Danny Buchan made his way back to his garage after a problem with the Panigale.
One rider which was missing from the second race, was Anvil Hire TAG Yamaha’s James Rispoli. The BSB rookie will have surgery tonight on his finger after a crash that he had at Brooklands in race -one.