Honda Racing’s Dan Linfoot secured his first MCE British Superbike race win of his career in tricky, wet conditions at Silverstone. But the final race was red-flagged due to the poor weather, and in the end only seven riders were left standing.
The race was cancelled with five laps to go, but one rider who did finish was RAF Reserves Kawasaki’s Jake Dixon. He ended race three in third and that was enough to secure his place in the coveted showdown.
When the event was brought to a halt McAMS Yamaha’s Michael Laverty finished second in a race that can only be described as a crash-fest. Westmoreland, Smrz, Bradley Ray and Lee Jackson were the other points finishers.
Elsewhere, JG Speedfit Kawasaki’s Leon Haslam had already confirmed his spot in the showdown, but he did not have the best of starts, well actually he didn’t start at all. After the warm up lap his ZX-10RR was pushed off the grid and straight to the pits with what looked like a technical issue.
Haslam never made it out of the garage and left the Silverstone round with a zero points haul. He also hurt his arm after he crashed in race two, so it will be a weekend to forget for the Smalley racer, but he was happy with the pace he had in the wet.
One rider, who had to finish highly, was Honda Racing’s Jason O’Halloran. On the first lap at Copse he crashed, unhurt. But he managed to already do enough to keep his place in the showdown. While all that was
going on there was a three way battle for first on the second rotation, with Byrne, Brookes and Ellison all vying for the win.
Then with 12 laps to go McAMS Yamaha’s James Ellison fell at Abbey whilst in the lead, after putting in a stellar performance. Then seconds later, Anvil Hire TAG Yamaha’s Josh Brookes was punted off his R1 on the straight and in doing so was out of contention for his second win of the day.
One thing that all the riders agreed on was the tyre choice. All of those who lined up on the starting grid opted for the full wet Pirelli tyre compounds. Elsewhere with Brookes and Ellison out of the race winning hunt, Linfoot soared into second and made a move on Byrne at Stowe to lead the way for the first time this weekend.
But on lap nine just as Byrne was edging closer to Linfoot he crashed at Farm. Lap seven of 14 proved the most dramatic, because just as Byrne fell he was followed by five other riders who all crashed in succession at different parts of the circuit.
JG Speedfit Kawasaki’s Luke Mossey’s title ambitions were dashed when he crashed at Abbey. Then Glenn Irwin fell at Luffield, as did showdown contender, Peter Hickman. Then Dean Harrison fell at club, with John Hopkins tumbling at Becketts. All riders were declared OK at the trackside.
Then it looked like Tyco BMW’s Christian Iddon was going to make it into the showdown, but he fell with seven laps to go at Club, ending his chances of competing for the championship. Then after three quarters race distance was completed it was red flagged due to the wet weather conditions.
There were a few absentees from the final race. Tyco BMW’s Andy Reid and Bennetts Suzuki’s Taylor Mackenzie were both injured in the earlier race today, and are on their way to hospital for further assessment.
Mackenzie has broken his left foot and Reid has a suspected broken leg. Luke Stapleford also sat out race three after a big warm up crash on the FS-3 Kawasaki.
So at the end of the triple-header the top six riders are, Byrne, Haslam, Brookes, Dixon, Hickman and O’Halloran.
