Shakey Bounces back – Brookes goes from last to fourth
Shane ‘Shakey’ Byrne returned to winning ways in the opening of the three MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship races at Oulton Park, claiming his 67th career victory whilst his arch rival Josh Brookes carved his way through the pack from 30th to fourth.
PBM Kawasaki’s Byrne had earlier scorched his way to the pole position with the fastest ever two-wheeled lap of the Cheshire circuit and in the opening race he launched to an early lead ahead of Tommy Bridewell, James Ellison and Danny Buchan who were all in close contention.
Bridewell, who had won at the circuit in May, was looking strong in the early stages as he pushed hard in his quest to claim a Showdown position, cutting the gap to within 0.283s of Byrne only to be forced out by machine problems with his Tyco BMW. It leaves the Wiltshire rider with work to do in tomorrow’s (Sunday) two races to secure his place in the top six, alongside the already qualified Byrne, Brookes and Ellison.
Ellison who returned to action at Oulton Park after breaking his wrist at Thruxton, took the fight at the front to Byrne before claiming second place on the JG Speedfit Kawasaki, a result that ensured he made the cut into the Showdown by a single point.
MCE BSB rookie Buchan celebrated a debut MCE BSB podium finish for himself and the Be Wiser Kawasaki team, just adrift of Ellison.
In fourth place Brookes delivered a gutsy performance to finish fourth after starting from the back of the grid after a technical problem with his Milwaukee Yamaha in Datatag qualifying.
Brookes rode hard, picking up ten places on the opening lap, and then making further inroads as he charged into fourth place, but after missing out on the podium Byrne has regained the advantage by one point in the Podium Points table.
Josh Brookes – P4 – “The start with Jon Ingram nearly crashing in to me was the first problem, I believe I could have got a far better start if that hadn’t happened to me, more or less everything went as best it could, I made as many passes as I could, as often as I could and moved up to fourth on track.
“The bike worked fine, I got the second fastest lap, and to do that the bike must have been working pretty good. When the tyre was in its best condition to do a good lap was when I was doing most of the passing so I couldn’t have put in my best lap. To be second on the grid for the race tomorrow after all that I went through is proof enough that the bike is fine. We don’t need to change much now – we just need to line it up on the grid tomorrow, start from the front and see what we can do.”
Dan Linfoot boosted his hopes of making the Showdown in fifth place for Honda Racing, as he now has a 17 point deficit to sixth placed Michael Laverty in the standings ahead of tomorrow’s two races.
A crash for Christian Iddon in the closing stages cost the Bennetts Suzuki rider a top-10 finish. After qualifying in eighth place, Iddon made a steady start to the first of three races this weekend, holding 10th place early on. However, after making a series of passes, he soon found himself embroiled in a classic British Superbike dogfight for fourth place.
But on lap 14 of 18, he crashed at high speed on the run from the ‘Shell Oils’ hairpin to the first chicane, ending his race and giving his team plenty of work to do for tomorrow’s two encounters.
Christian Iddon – “That was quite a big one that. I was having a good race and was inside the top-10. At one point it was a battle for fourth but I think realistically in the end we were in the mix for fifth-or-sixth, but sadly it wasn’t to be. I wanted to get the two guys in front of me, (Luke) Mossey and (Dan) Linfoot, but I ran wide and clipped the grass and it spat me off. The mechanics have got a big job on their hands tonight so I’m sorry to give them so much work to do. I wanted to give the team the best result I could and that’s not how I wanted it to go. But we’ll try again tomorrow.”
Josh Waters also found himself down a few positions off the start from his qualifying position, dropping as low as 23rd. However, he kept his head down and worked his way-up to a point-scoring finish of 14th.
Josh Waters – “We didn’t get the best of starts in the race but I regrouped and tried my best to push-on. It’s no secret we’re still not where we want to be with our set-up, but it was good to be able to make some passes and come through to finish in the points. Myself and the team are trying our hardest and we’ll make some more adjustments and look for an improvement in tomorrow’s races.”
Shane Byrne (PBM Kawasaki) – “I want to be five times champion but I am not going to do that finishing in sixth or fourth or whatever but since Brands Hatch we have had a really bad run, so I know how easily things can turn around! No stone was left unturned and now it is my bike again.
“That race there was kind of tricky, I wanted to go out and try and get away but at the same time I didn’t want to go out and get away and then suffer at the end of the race. We have 18 laps of data now so the team can have a look at that and we are on pole for tomorrow’s first race. The 67th win is finally off my back, so a massive thanks to Paul Bird and everyone who stands by me.”
Danny Bucham – P3 – “It’s obviously not a dream come true yet as I haven’t stood on the top step but it was nice to see the chequered flag! The pace was hot all race; I got settled in to a rhythm pretty early on and got away with James (Ellison), Tommy (Bridewell) and Shakey (Byrne). Tommy pulled out for whatever reason and it was just us three left. I kept pushing on, had a few little moments early in the race, but once I got settled back in I was cool just chipping away and bought it home for third place, so I am more than happy.
“James was quicker than me in some places of the track and I was quicker than him in others, so for me to have made a pass it would have been a lunge and I was just thinking I just need to bring this home and see that chequered flag. I thought James would see on his signal that I was behind him and he would pull on over and let me through but that wasn’t the case! He put his head down and when I saw the last lap flag come out I thought ‘come on James pull over and stop being so greedy’! I can’t thank my team enough as I have had a few spills this year and now we have two more races to have a go at the podium again tomorrow.”
Race one
1: Shane Byrne (PBM Kawasaki)
2: James Ellison (JG Speedfit Kawasaki) +0.780s
3: Danny Buchan (Be Wiser Kawasaki) +1.784s
4: Josh Brookes (Milwaukee Yamaha) +4.421s
5: Dan Linfoot (Honda Racing) +10.605s
6: Luke Mossey (Quattro Plant Kawasaki) +10.820s
Championship standings
1: Josh Brookes (Milwaukee Yamaha) 329
2: Shane Byrne (PBM Kawasaki) 302
3: James Ellison (JG Speedfit Kawasaki) 167
4: Tommy Bridewell (Tyco BMW) 141
5: Stuart Easton (PBM Kawasaki) 139
6: Michael Laverty (Tyco BMW) 133
Reid takes maiden Motorpoint British Supersport victory in thriller
Andy Reid headed off the determined challenges of Jake Dixon over the final thrilling laps of the Motorpoint British Supersport Championship Sprint race to take his first victory in the series.
Luke Stapleford claimed third place on the Profile Triumph after narrowly avoiding title rival Kyle Ryde who crashed out ahead of him to open up a 53 points lead in the title stakes.
Reid, aboard the Team Traction Control Yamaha, who had earlier smashed the class circuit record to take his first pole start in the series had a fight on his hands with series leader Stapleford snatching the lead, after trading places several times.
Reid came back, leading the third lap, but then in hectic scrap at the front Dixon snatched the lead. Ryde, who had lost time when Glenn Irwin crashed in front of him on the opening lap was in the mix, pushing him back another place.
Ryde then took Stapleford to go second, but not for long before James Rispoli had moved ahead of them both as Dixon held the lead. It was then all change with Stapleford fighting back, going second with Reid a close third.
But again it was all change as the pack pursued Dixon with Reid grabbing second, Ryde demoting Stapleford to third. Reid was at his most determined, taking the fight to Dixon, going through on the penultimate lap with Ryde following him in second place.
Dixon was back to third going into the final lap, just ahead of Stapleford, but then at Old Hall Ryde ran wide and went down. Dixon had second place ahead of Stapleford, but at the head of the pack, Reid had the edge and the victory, while his team-mate Rispoli ran fifth, just adrift of Sam Hornsey.
Motorpoint British Supersport Championship, Oulton Park, Sprint race result
1: Andy Reid (Team Traction Control Yamaha)
2: Jake Dixon (Smiths Triumph) +0.146s
3: Luke Stapleford (Profile Triumph) +0.796s
4: Sam Hornsey (Profile Triumph) +1.077s
5: James Rispoli (Team Traction Control Yamaha) +1.445s
Motorpoint British Supersport Championship standings after Oulton Park Sprint race
1: Luke Stapleford (Profile Triumph) 330pts
2: Kyle Ryde (PacedayZ Trackdays Yamaha) 277
3: Glenn Irwin (Gearlink Kawasaki) 223
4: Jake Dixon (Smiths Triumph) 223
5: Andy Reid (Team Traction Control Yamaha) 165
HEL Peformance British Motostar Championship qualifying
Taz Taylor outgunned Moto3 series leader Scott Deroue to take the pole start. The RS KTM rider worked hard throughout the second session before clocking a best lap of 1m 44.000s which put him 0.915s faster than Deroue aboard the Redline KTM. Charlie Nesbitt completed the front row. Jake Archer, Ed Rendell and Dani Saez start from the second row while Cameron Horsman, sixteenth overall, was the fastest 125GP qualifier in 1m 49.600s.
Pirelli National Superstock 1000 Championship qualifying
Josh Elliott looks set to increase his lead in the chase for the crown after powering his Morello Kawaski to the pole start with a time of 1m 37.814s. James East starts his Downshift Kawasaki alongside him with Hudson Kennaugh completing the front row on the Trik-Moto BMW though with only 0.245s between the three of them. Alastair Seeley starts from the second row along with Luke Quigley and Kyle Wilks. Benjamin Currie qualified fifth.
Pirelli National Superstock 600 Championship qualifying
Andrew Irwin with a lap of 1m 40.336s set in the first qualifying session aboard his Mel Healthcare Kawasaki, took pole start by 0.048s from NMW No Limits Kawasaki’s series leading Mason Law with Tarran Mackenzie completing the front row for Stauff Connect Academy Kawasaki. Local rider Joe Francis ran fourth fastest to be on the second row with Ben Currie and Matt Truelove.
Santander Consumer Finance KTM British Junior Cup qualifying
Series leader Cameron Fraser starts from pole with a best time of 1m 59.490s though he was hard pressed by James Nagy who closed within 0.117s of him. Chris Taylor whol holds second in the standings and 18 points down completes the front row. Kevin Keyes, third in the title chase, starts from the second row.
Santander Consumer Finance KTM British Junior Cup Saturday race
Chris Taylor snatched the victory by just 0.042s from series leader Cameron Fraser, closing to within 13 points of him, after a typically hard fought race. James Nagy had to settle for third ahead of Kevin Keyes, who had led for much of the race but missed out on a podium place by running wide into Lodge on the final lap.
