Reigning Dickies British Supersport king Tarran Mackenzie emerged victorious from a seven-bike scrap in the season opener at Donington Park but had to fight off the non-championship Spirit Moto2 machine of Alastair Seeley in order to do it.

Mackenzie was up and down the leading pack order which not only involved Seeley but the Gearlink Kawasaki duo of Andrew Irwin and Ben Currie, plus Keith Farmer, Jack Kennedy and David Allingham joined the party for the last five laps.

Irwin, Currie and Seeley made the inital running after Mackenzie had a difficult qualifyign but it didn’t take the McAMS Yamaha long to get into a podium-challenging position. However, it was not a easy path to victory as passing Currie on the brakes is no easy task and Seeley’s experience made him a tough opponent.

The top six swapped paint and places for the entire race as Mackenzie found it tough to get to the front, having a big moment on the exit of Foggy Esses which almost spelled disaster. He gathered himself together and went almost a second a lap quicker than the pack to get to the front with two laps left and pulled a gap.

Seeley, who doesn’t score points, was right in the mix and eventually finished second with Andrew Irwin in third place but it is Irwin who takes away 20 points. Team-mate Currie took 16 points and the final podium spot. Allingham took advantage of a mistake from Appleyard’s Farmer to make it into the top five on the penultimate lap and eventually nicked fifth.

Kennedy was also able to pass Farmer and bagged some important points for Dave Tyson’s MV Agusta team with Farmer next along. Ross Twyman, Joe Francis and Keenan Armstrong completed the top ten.