Bathams BMW's Taylor Mackenzie drew first blood in the 2021 Pirelli National Superstock series, taking victory in the Oulton Park season opener.
Mackenzie made a good start from second position on the grid, and quickly established himself in a break away pack of riders. By the end of the 14 lap race, the breakaway of four riders became spread out, and Mackenzie finished the race with a 2.8 second lead over second position - the first time he has won at Oulton Park on a Superstock bike.
“What a day. Obviously I'm really chuffed to have won the race, that goes without saying, but I'm also really happy with how well the bike is going considering how new and how different it is to the last one," said Mackenzie.
"It's probably got a lot to do with Michael doing loads development testing on it - He should probably give himself a pay rise. Also, the whole weekend ran really smoothly, everything just worked. I always look forward to racing at Knockhill, but I'd go tomorrow if I could."
Team boss Michael Rutter added: “I take full credit for the result, and will be giving myself a large pay rise for assessing all those electronic settings on the M1000RR since we took delivery of it, and all weekend.
"Seriously though, this is great for everyone on the team who has worked so hard on the bike all winter, and our suppliers and sponsors who have helped.
"You never really know where you are until you get to the first race, and while it is a dream result for us, it is only one race, so we'll enjoy this evening and get back to work tomorrow. We've got a lot of useful data from the race, and feedback from Taylor to go through to hopefully make the bike better for Knockhill."