Shane ‘Shakey’ Byrne has managed to win the opening race of the MCE British Superbike Championship race at Oulton Park registering his 67th career win, while Josh Brookes managed to bag fourth place.
Byrne had grasped the advantage from the opening lap and had a pack of riders queuing up to try and snatch it away from him led by Tommy Bridewell with James Ellison and Danny Buchan in close contention.
Bridewell was pushing for the lead, but disaster struck the Tyco BMW rider on the seventh lap and as he closed on Byrne to try and make a move he was sidelined by a technical problem that forced him to retire. The Tyco BMW rider still holds fourth place in the overall standings despite his non-points score ahead of tomorrow’s Showdown deciding two races.
That left a returning Ellison and young gun Buchan to keep pushing for the final podium positions and the Be Wiser Kawasaki rider was looking for anyway to grab the second place away from the JG Speedfit Kawasaki rider but it wasn’t enough. Ellison held him off despite his best efforts to confirm his place in the Showdown six with Buchan celebrating his debut MCE BSB podium finish in third place.
Brookes had started 30th on the grid after his problem in Datatag Qualifying but the Milwaukee Yamaha delivered arguably one of his best performances to date, scything through the field to eventually score a fourth place finish with the podium contenders in his sights.
Dan Linfoot claimed fifth position after a race-long scrap with Luke Mossey as the pair both bid for the Showdown six. The Honda Racing rider narrowly had the edge by the final lap ahead of the rookie with Buildbase BMW locking out seventh and eighth with Richard Cooper and Lee Jackson respectively.
Michael Laverty and Peter Hickman completed the top ten, leaving three Showdown places still up for grabs after the two races tomorrow in Cheshire.
MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship, Oulton Park, race one result:
Shane Byrne (PBM Kawasaki)
James Ellison (JG Speedfit Kawasaki) +0.780s
Danny Buchan (Be Wiser Kawasaki) +1.784s
Josh Brookes (Milwaukee Yamaha) +4.421s
Dan Linfoot (Honda Racing) +10.605s
Luke Mossey (Quattro Plant Kawasaki) +10.820s
Richard Cooper (Buildbase BMW) +11.590s
Lee Jackson (Buildbase BMW) +11.671s
Michael Laverty (Tyco BMW) +14.628s
Peter Hickman (RAF Reserves BMW) +23.771s
MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship standings after Oulton Park race one:
Josh Brookes (Milwaukee Yamaha) 329
Shane Byrne (PBM Kawasaki) 302
James Ellison (JG Speedfit Kawasaki) 167
Tommy Bridewell (Tyco BMW) 141
Stuart Easton (PBM Kawasaki) 139
Michael Laverty (Tyco BMW) 133
