Flawless Leon Haslam made it a perfect weekend at Silverstone with victory in the third Bennetts British Superbike race.

The JG Speedfit Kawasaki rider held off a tenacious Taz Mackenzie, who was denied his maiden Superbike win by less than a tenth of a second, after a tight 26-lap scrap.

Before the race even began, however, it was disaster for potential Showdown entrant Peter Hickman after he was forced to enter the pits with an issue on his Smith’s Racing BMW. But after starting from pit lane, he was given an unexpected gift.

Honda Racing’s Jason O’Halloran stormed off the line to lead Haslam, Josh Brookes and RAF Regular and Reserves’ Jake Dixon into the first corner, but it was all reset after Luke Mossey crashed, prompting red flags and a full restart.

When action got back underway, O’Halloran was straight back into the lead ahead of pole man Haslam with McAMS Yamaha’s Brookes and Mackenzie following suit.

Showdown hopeful Iddon slotted in just behind with Glenn Irwin and Michael Laverty on his tail, but the Tyco BMW rider wasted no time in putting Mackenzie behind him and joining the podium fight.

At the front, Brookes took the lead from O’Halloran before Haslam shoved the Aussie back to third, while Iddon put him back a further place at Maggots.

But it looked like any chances of a Showdown place were over for Iddon after he ran off at Brooklands, re-joining just behind Moto Rapido Ducati’s Tommy Bridewell in 12th.

In the fight for third, Mackenzie and Dixon had both regained ground and were on the hunt for Brookes and Haslam by the half-way mark.

Mackenzie poked his head through on Haslam at Luffield on lap 18 of 26, but was squeezed out as the series leader held onto second before immediately going for Brookes and taking the lead just a few corners later.

Brookes immediately tried to return the favour, but ran wide and let Haslam back through and just two laps later, Mackenzie sneaked by to take the lead as he and Haslam started to stretch a gap while Brookes fell into the clutches of Dixon.

Although Haslam passed Mackenzie into Maggots on the final lap, the Yamaha rider snatched his advantage back heading into Copse before Haslam made a decisive move at Brooklands, holding onto the win by a slim 0.075s as Dixon crossed the line third less than two tenths further back.

Be Wiser Ducati’s Glenn Irwin took fourth from O’Halloran and Brookes, while Buildbase Suzuki team-mates Bradley Ray and Richard Cooper bagged seventh and eighth.

Bridewell and Iddon completed the top 10, but even without a point to his name, Hickman snatched the final showdown spot in a lowly 19th.

Andrew Irwin and Silicone Engineering’s Dean Harrison were early exits following crashes, while Laverty pulled into the pits after just three lap.

Showdown contenders

1. Leon Haslam
2. Jake Dixon
3. Josh Brookes
4. Glenn Irwin
5. Bradley Ray
6. Peter Hickman

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