Brookes ends Oulton Park BSB weekend with dominant victory in final race
Race one (Saturday): OultonPark BSB
- Ryuichi Kiyonari (Buildbase BMW)
- Josh Brookes (Milwaukee Yamaha) +0.496s
- Shane Byrne (Rapid Solicitors Kawasaki) +2.011s
- Tommy Bridewell (Milwaukee Yamaha) +4.362s
- Dan Linfoot (Quattro Plant Kawasaki) +5.981s
- John Hopkins (Tyco Suzuki) +7.149s
Race two (Sunday): OultonPark BSB
- Ryuichi Kiyonari (Buildbase BMW)
- Josh Brookes (Milwaukee Yamaha) +0.167s
- Shane Byrne (Rapid Solicitors Kawasaki) +1.199s
- Dan Linfoot (Quattro Plant Kawasaki) +23.664s
- Chris Walker (Lloyds British GBmoto Racing Kawasaki) +23.819s
- Stuart Easton (Rapid Solicitors Kawasaki) +23.842s
Race three (Sunday): OultonPark BSB
- Josh Brookes (Milwaukee Yamaha)
- Shane Byrne (Rapid Solicitors Kawasaki) +7.509s
- Dan Linfoot (Quattro Plant Kawasaki) +7.986s
- Ryuichi Kiyonari (Buildbase BMW) +8.111s
- Stuart Easton (Rapid Solicitors Kawasaki) +10.049s
- Josh Waters (Tyco Suzuki) +10.430s
Championship standings: OultonPark BSB
- Shane Byrne (Rapid Solicitors Kawasaki) 313
- Josh Brookes (Milwaukee Yamaha) 244
- Ryuichi Kiyonari (Buildbase BMW) 202
- Dan Linfoot (Quattro Plant Kawasaki) 156
- Tommy Bridewell (Milwaukee Yamaha) 142
- Chris Walker (Lloyds British GBmoto Racing Kawasaki) 136
Ryuichi Kiyonari continued his ‘War for Four’ MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship titles at Oulton Park as he headed off the determined challenges of Josh Brookes to win the opening two races of the triple header seventh round at Oulton Park. However the Australian retaliated with a victory in the final race.
Kiyonari had provided a stunning performance in the first race of the weekend (Saturday), charging through from the fourth row of the grid to take the win ahead of Brookes. In the second race (Sunday) the Buildbase BMW rider again overcame the challenge from the Australian to take his winning tally at the circuit to twelve races.
Speaking after the first race on Sunday, Kiyonari said: “That was very difficult because the conditions were changing from wet to dry, but I am very happy with the win. It is important for me to keep winning as I don’t want to be second now.”
Brookes was relentless in his quest for the race three win, which he scored in a commanding style at the Cheshire circuit. The Milwaukee Yamaha rider led from the start of the final contest to head off series leader Byrne, who maintained his run of podium finishes.
Brookes said: “I guess the first race today was quite similar to yesterday, despite the conditions being different. I went through Druids on the first lap trying to break everyone. I thought if I could go through at speed where nobody else was perhaps willing to, then they might give up a bit and think let him do it, but I think it was too early in the race. There were a lot of laps and I led for as long as I was daring to at the start. I could see I wasn’t getting a gap on Kiyo but I just kept trying to push and he just stuck to the back of me like glue! We were quite even and I just kept pushing him. I was making mistakes and wasn’t able to capitalise but I rode the best that I could.
“In the second race today I knew I needed to get away as there was one real dry line and otherwise you would have to go off on the damp part to make an overtake. I tried really hard to get a good start as I knew I wanted to lead give myself the best possible chance. I had a massive lunge into the first corner and I was able to take the lead. Once I got there I was then thinking ‘how fast should I go?’
“The first lap through Druids I didn’t have movement, but I had a sense of where the grip was and I wasn’t sure how hard to push. Once I got into it, I felt more natural and then there was some light rain. I waited to see lap on lap and fortunately it stayed dry so I kept pushing. Yesterday I didn’t relax physically, but I did slightly mentally and Kiyo came by and I didn’t want that to happen again so kept the gas on! I’m really happy with the win and now we can look at what we can do at Cadwell Park.”
Shane Byrne: “My fitness isn’t what it should have been this weekend due to a bit of an accident away from racing on Thursday so with a second and two thirds from the three races, it hasn’t been a bad weekend by my standards. Aside from having a bit less side grip, the bike was great all weekend and more than capable of winning and it was simply a case of the rider not quite being strong enough. I felt better today and although changeable conditions make it tough as you don’t want to be on damp patches with slick tyres, the slower pace helped me last longer. I’m lost for words with how Josh rode in the last race as he was going through the damp patches like they weren’t there so fair play to him. Three more podiums mean a good chunk of Podium Credits and hopefully I’ll be back a lot stronger at the next round.”
Quattro Plant Kawasaki’s Dan Linfoot continued his recent run of form by celebrating his first podium finish in the championship with a strong third place ahead of the determined Kiyonari.
Dan Linfoot: “To finally crack the podium is a fantastic feeling and it’s testament to the team who have given me a superb bike all season. It feels like it’s been a long time coming but this weekend was all about carrying the confidence from the previous round at Thruxton and to come away with a third, a fourth and a fifth shows I’ve done just that. From the beginning of the weekend, I felt really good and although it proved to be a challenging weekend with the conditions we proved we were strong in both the wet and dry and I’m just so happy. I’ve had some tough times in the past what with bad results and going through the winter without a ride so when it all comes together like this, it makes you appreciate it more. At the same time though, I’m keeping my feet firmly on the ground as there’s still a long way to go and we’re focusing firmly on the next four races now to make sure we finish inside the top six.”
After seven rounds, the championship table sees Byrne leading Brookes by 69 points, increasing his important Podium Credits tally to 50, a lead of 15 going into the next round over the August bank holiday weekend at Cadwell Park.
Motorpoint British Supersport
Alastair Seeley defied both the pain and the drying track to firmly put his Motorpoint British Supersport title bid back on track with a victory ahead of Glenn Irwin and Graeme Gowland.
Riding the MarTrain Yamaha Seeley, who had taken a battering in a crash during qualifying the previous day, started from the third row, with Irwin aboard the Gearlink Kawasaki making the early running ahead of the Smiths Triumph duo Graeme Gowland and Billy McConnell.
The Nissan Safety Car was introduced as marshals dealt with the heavy crashes of Sam Coventry and David Allingham at Island Bend on the opening lap, controlling the action for five laps, with Irwin heading the pack at the restart Seeley was able to play catch-up carving through the bunched up pack to be upto eighth
Seeley was pegging back time and positions by the lap and was soon back into contention, by the ninth lap he had taken McConnell to be running in third place and soon turning up the heat on Gowland, taking over second place on lap eleven and next time around he was leading and charging into the distance.
Seeley took his fifth win of the season and he reflected: “It’s been an up and down weekend, I took a big bang in qualifying and for this race made a terrible start and was down in tenth early on. I got a good feel for the wet and I was able to slide in and out of the corners – It was just so nice to win after yesterday.”
Irwin took his best result since the Brands Hatch opener as he held onto second from Gowland for whom third place gave him the title lead, by a single point from McConnell who finished fifth behind Luke Jones while Danny Webb won the Supersport Evo category ahead of Josh Corner and Evo Championship leader Alex Olsen.
Billy McConnell: “I’ve been getting a bit emotional with Graeme kicking my butt every weekend recently but we’ve kept chipping away and the team have been right behind me and giving me the confidence to push for the race wins so to get the top spot in Saturday’s race felt great. I tried to ride really defensive on the last lap but I ended up making a few mistakes which allowed Graeme to close right in and I was lucky to hold on to the win. I struggled a bit today and was quite weak through Hizzy’s but we got fifth and at the end of the day, points make prizes. We’re still right in the mix so a big thanks to the whole Smiths Triumph team for giving me a great bike this weekend.”
Gowland’s third place behind Glenn Irwin, with McConnell in fifth, means the rider from Allendale in Northumberland leads his Australian team-mate by one point, with Seeley three points further back in third, exactly the gap between the trio when they arrived at the circuit.
Motorpoint British Supersport Championship feature race OultonPark BSB
- Alastair Seeley (Martrain Yamaha)
- Glenn Irwin (Gearlink Kawasaki) +4.511s
- Graeme Gowland (Smiths Triumph) +4.657s
- Luke Jones (Acumen Industrial Service Triumph) +6.032s
- Billy McConnell (Smiths Triumph) +8.027s
Motorpoint British Supersport Championship standings OultonPark BSB
- Graeme Gowland (Smiths Triumph) 228
- Billy McConnell (Smiths Triumph) 227
- Alastair Seeley (Martrain Yamaha) 224
- Luke Jones (Acumen Industrial Service Triumph) 175
- Glenn Irwin (Gearlink Kawasaki) 158
Pirelli National Superstock 600 Championship
Kyle Ryde extended his lead in the chase for the Pirelli National Superstock 600 crown with a third win in as many races while his main rival Andy Reid crashed out of contention for the second time in a week. Riding the PacedayZ Trackdays Yamaha, Ryde took the early lead, but Reid soon had his FFX Yamaha in front. Ryde regained the initiative at half distance while Reid tipped off at Shell. Joe Collier came through to take second place ahead of Nick Anderson.
Pirelli National Superstock 1000 Championship
Danny Buchan snatched the lead, and the victory, at Lodge on the final lap of a thriller and won the dash to the line with a photo finish, ahead of Honda’s Jason O’Halloran, by 0.035secs. Buchan on the Tsingtao WK Kawasaki had the edge for most of the race but his Aussie rival was hounding him all of the way and found a way through to lead on lap 11. The scrap at the front intensified with Buchan snatching the verdict at the line. Filip Backlund took third ahead of Lee Jackson and Hudson Kennaugh.
