JG Speedfit Kawasaki’s Luke Mossey had to wait over two years for an MCE British Superbike win and today at the Brands Hatch Indy track two victories came at once.
It was déjà vu for the Royston rider as in a near-repeat of race one his ZX-10RR was able to outpace the rest of the pack to do the double.
The final two podium positions had the same riders on the step as the opening race, with current championship leader Leon Haslam and Tyco BMW’s Christian Iddon completing the rostrum.
The race was filled with unpredictability and drama, with title challenger James Ellison retiring before the race had even begun with a technical problem, and Be Wiser Ducati’s Shane Byrne crashed unhurt with six laps remaining.
It was not the best of starts for McAMS Yamaha’s Ellison. The pole-setter had crashed while in the lead in race one, and it looked like there were still some issues with the R1 as on his way around to the starting grid the Cumbrian started shaking his head.
On the grid his team were in a race against time to fix a front-end problem and did Ellison leave on the warm up laps - but instead of lining up on pole he went straight back into the garage, meaning he comes away from the Kent circuit with no points and two DNFs.
Initially it was Haslam who got the holeshot over his team-mate Mossey, but the race one victor hit back on lap six and went into the lead at Paddock Hill. Haslam on lap nine went wide and Iddon sliced through to take second.
The two JG Speedfit ZX-10RR’s both stayed with the same tyre choices as the first race, and they opted for the harder front and rear Pirelli tyres. Elsewhere Byrne was on the charge and overtook O’Halloran to go into fourth on lap 15, and had Haslam as his next target.
A smidgen down the field Glenn Irwin got the better of O’Halloran, and the Fireblade rider soon had Josh Brookes breathing down his leathers and after two third race distance completed the 2015 champ was up to sixth after put-pacing Hickman.
But Irwin’s good luck was not to last, and the Panigale ended up in the gravel at Clearways as the Ulsterman crashed while edging closer to Byrne, but a lap later the reigning champ crashed in exactly the same place - and both Be Wiser Ducati’s ended up in the gravel, with only five laps remaining. Both rider’s were declared OK at the trackside.
The Anvil Hire TAG Yamaha of Josh Brookes really excelled in the final third of the race and at the flag went up to fourth but this time went for the SC0 softer rear tyre, followed by the Honda’s of Jason O’Halloran and Dan Linfoot. Hickman, rookie Bradley Ray, Hopkins, Guintoli, Laverty, Bridewell, Dixon, Mackenzie and Smrz all ended race two indside the points.
