Be Wiser Ducati’s Glenn Irwin bagged his maiden MCE British Superbike win at Silverstone, in very mixed track conditions.

But there was drama in the opening race, as showdown challengers, Be Wiser Ducati’s Shane Byrne and JG Speedfit Kawasaki’s Leon Haslam crashed unhurt. Even though the Panigale rider fell he has secured his showdown spot. Haslam is still in contention of securing his place in the top six as he remains on 209 points.

At the start, some of the riders wanted to wait for a few minutes and delay proceedings to see if the track would dry up a bit more, after an earlier rain shower. But the race went on ahead as planned.

This was to the dismay of Byrne, Haslam and other rider’s who all voiced their opinions to race direction. They wanted the race delayed as some parts of the circuit were dry, where other parts were rain sodden and soaking wet. In the end the first of the triple-header events started with only one rider changing tyres before the race.

Hickman had to start from pit lane as he decided to opt for rain tyres and swiftly made his way to the garage for a quick tyre change. It was also a mixed bag when it came to tyre selection too. Haslam, Ellison, Byrne and O’Halloran went with intermediate front and back wet tyres. Brookes went for full wets as did Dixon and Hopkins.

Sylvain Guintoli opted for full slicks and ended up dropping off the pace and was 23rd with 11 laps to go. Showdown hopeful, Iddon went for the SC1 slick rear tyre and the intermediate wet front Pirelli’s.

Initially it was Dixon who got the hole-shot in mixed track conditions. On lap four Brookes edged ahead as Dixon went wide and Hopkins and Irwin went through. A rotation later the returning, Luke Mossey made a move that stuck on Dixon with the JG Speedfit Kawasaki man riding on the full wet tyre compounds.

One notable rider that crashed was championship challenger, JG Speedfit Kawasaki’s Leon Haslam. He fell unhurt in the wet conditions at Club. Meanwhile Irwin overtook Brookes at Aintree to take the lead for the first time this weekend on lap seven.

A little further down the track Iddon was sixth but had the ever charging Byrne edging closer to the S1000RR rider. On the penultimate lap Iddon went wide at Chapel, allowing the Be Wiser Ducati to slip through.

McAMS Yamaha’s James Ellison could have mathematically made it into the Showdown but his hopes were dashed when he came to an abrupt halt at Becketts, when his R1 experienced a technical issue.

Tyco BMW’s Andy Reid was flying as high up the field as seventh and was locked in a battle with Byrne, but the young tattooist crashed unhurt as he lost grip at Club with five laps remaining.

Completing the rostrum with Irwin was Anvil Hire TAG Yamaha’s Josh Brookes and Moto Rapido Ducati’s John Hopkins. This is the first time this season that the American rider made it on to the rostrum after a solid race. Jake Dixon keeps his showdown ambitions intact with a fourth place finish, followed by Mossey who remains inside the top six. Iddon, Mackenzie, Smrz, Hickman and Ray completed the top ten.

After his ninth place Smiths Racing’s Peter Hickman remains third in the overall standings, with O’Halloran fifth after crossing the finishing line in eleventh. Jackson, Guintoli and Jessopp were the last of the points finishers.

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