Jack Kennedy made his return to the Quattro Group British Supersport Championship in the ideal manner as he won Oulton Park’s opening race of the weekend, the DB Race Services Kawasaki rider just getting the better of Bradley Perie (Appleyard Macadam Yamaha) in Saturday’s 12-lap race. Ben Currie (Gearlink Kawasaki) completed the podium in third.

Pole man Perie maintained the lead position going into the first corner and he completed the opening lap ahead of Currie, Kennedy, Lee Johnston (Ashcourt Racing Yamaha), Korie McGreevy (Mar-Train Racing Yamaha) and Mason Law (Spiritmoto Corsa), the latter the leading GP2 Cup runner.

Positions stayed the same for the next two laps but the fourth lap saw Kennedy move up into second as both he and Perie looked to break away from Currie, Johnston and co.

By half race distance, only McGreevy was beginning to drop back but Brandon Paasch’s hopes of giving Dynavolt Triumph a top six position disappeared when he crashed out of seventh on the fifth lap.

Back at the front and Kennedy and Perie consistently pulled clear of their pursuers in the second half of the race and the former finally managed to find a way by his Yamaha rival. It was still tight though and just a couple of tenths split the pairing as they entered the final third of the race.

Try as he might though, Perie couldn’t get back into the lead and it was former double champion Kennedy who took the chequered flag with Perie 0.144s adrift.

Currie had slipped some six seconds behind at the end of the 12 laps but he successfully held off Johnston for the final podium spot with Law and Charlie Nesbitt (RS Racing Kalex) taking fifth and sixth, the leading GP2 Cup runners only a tenth apart.

McGreevy took seventh from Harry Truelove (Truelove Brothers Racing Yamaha) with two more GP2 Cup riders, Jack Scott and Jamie Perrin, rounding out the top ten.

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