British Superbike Championship Round 7: Oulton Park

A big crowd packed into a largely sunny Oulton Park for the first British Superbike triple-header of the season, with three thrilling races producing three different winners in Britain’s premier two-wheeled series.

Race one took place on Saturday, with Milwaukee Yamaha rider James Ellison taking the spoils after a typically hard fought encounter. The race was red flagged on lap 1 following a crash involving Keith Farmer, Howie Mainwairing and BSB debutant Jamie Poole. On the restart, Alex Lowes took the advantage and led the pack into Old Hall, with Tyco Suzuki rider Josh Brookes close behind, and Ellison already up to third position. This became second a lot later, as Ellison outbraked the Australian at Lodge and set off in pursuit of Lowes.

A lap later Ellison took the lead, and was never headed thereafter. Shane Byrne also passed Alex Lowes and set off in pursuit of the Milwaukee Yamaha, but was unable to pass the Cumbrian rider, who took a well deserved victory. Alex Lowes completed the podium after putting a very hard move on Josh Brookes at Island Bend, with Tommy Bridewell taking fifth place on his debut for Halsall Racing.

A few grey clouds threatened to make Sunday’s races a rather wetter affair, but the big raceday crowd kept dry and was treated to a fantastic day’s racing at the Cheshire circuit.

Race two of the weekend saw Shane Byrne finally take his 50th BSB race win, after another close battle between the championship’s leading riders. Alex Lowes again led the way from the start, with Byrne, Ellison and Brookes tucked in behind. Shakey looked racy from the start, and on lap 2 made his move, slipping up the inside of Lowes at Lodge to lead across the line. The Samsung Honda rider was in no mood to let the reigning champion get away, and was straight back in front of the Kawasaki at Old Hall. The pair then swapped the lead four times over the next two laps, until Lowes led over the line at the end of lap 4.

Things didn’t stay static for long, with Byrne hitting the front on lap 6 and pushing Lowes back into the clutches of James Ellison, who took second on lap 7 at Old Hall. The leading pack were inseperable, with Josh Brookes pushing Alex Lowes out of the podium places on lap 12, and then moving up to second position by passing Ellison at Shell Oils hairpin.

This pushed Ellison back into the clutches of the Samsung Honda’s of Lowes and Kiyonari. Lowes made his move at Island Bend, with Ellison running wide and suffering a high speed crash, fortunately without injury. Brookes harried the Rapid Solicitors Kawasaki all the way to the flag, but Byrne had every move covered, and held on to take a landmark 50th victory in the series.

The race held yet more drama right at the end, with Alex Lowes losing the front and crashing at Lodge Corner on the very last lap of the race. This promoted team-mate Ryuichi Kiyonari onto the podium, with the top three covered by less than a second after 18 thrilling laps. Tommy Bridewell went one better and finished fourth for the ecstatic Halsall Racing team.

Race three promised much, and didn’t fail to deliver, with a brilliant five way battle for the lead raging for the entire race, with Josh Brookes emerging to take his first win at Oulton Park for Tyco Suzuki.

Alex Lowes had been penalised by four grid places for his role in James Ellison’s race two crash, so it was Shane Byrne who led the pack into Old Hall on lap one, with James Ellison, Josh Brookes and a fast starting Lowes falling in behind. Ellison then hit the front before the safety car was deployed, following a techncial problem for Bathams Honda’s Michael Rutter depositing oil on the start finish straight.

The field was released on lap six, with Byrne holding the lead as Alex Lowes dived inside James Ellison at Island Bend once again, with Brookes pouncing at the very next corner to push the Yamaha rider down to fourth. Tommy Bridewell had really got to grips with his new Kawasaki mount by now, and made his move at Hizzy’s chicane, pushing Ellison to the back of the leading pack.

Brookes moved into second on lap 12, passing Alex Lowes at Hizzy’s and instantly dicing with Byrne for the lead of the race. The pair then scrapped for lead, swapping several times before Brookes made the move stick at Shell Oils, having to defend hard to keep Shane Byrne behind.

Byrne tried hard to wrestle the lead back from the Tyco Suzuki rider, leaving himself open to attack from Alex Lowes behind. The pair made contact at Shell, with Lowes chancing a move down the inside after Byrne ran ever so slightly wide. Brookes held on to take the win, with Byrne second and Alex Lowes third, Ellison fourth and Tommy Bridewell fifth. The top five were covered by just 1.2 seconds at the flag.

Shane Byrne left Cheshire leading the championship on 297 points, with Josh Brookes second on 268 and Lowes just behind on 243 points.

For full race results click here.

Words and photography by Richard Crawford

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