Be Wiser Ducati’s Shane Byrne had a three second advantage as he crossed the finishing line to clinch the race one MCE British Superbike victory at Snetterton.
With three quarters of the race completed the Panigale rider was chased hard by Anvil Hire TAG Racing’s Josh Brookes who excelled on the softer option Pirelli tyres to finish second, with fellow countryman, Honda Racing’s Jason O’Halloran rounding off the podium positions.
At first it was Haslam got the hole-shot, only for Ellison to get into the lead on the opening lap. Linfoot had a solid start and was up to third after getting the better of Byrne with 15 laps to go. But on the Senna Straight before the start of the third lap Byrne got in the slip stream of Linfoot and made a double pass on Linfoot and then Haslam. It appeared that the Smalley rider could still be in a bit of pain due to his injuries sustained at the last round at Knockhill and slipped down to sixth with 12 laps to go.
Meanwhile further up the front Byrne edged ahead of Ellison at Oggies and went into the lead for the first time today. Another rider who gained pace was O’Halloran who soared up to third after out pacing his team-mate with Brookes going up to fifth, after going quicker than Linfoot at the Bomb Hole on rotation 11.
The bad luck continued to strike McAMS Yamaha’s James Ellison while he was fighting for the win. With ten laps to go an electrical issue hit the R1 and the frustrated rider had to pull over at Tyrells, right in the middle of his battle with Byrne.
With Ellison out of contention it pushed Brookes up to second. The Be Wiser Ducati rider opted for the softer front and rear tyres, as did Brookes. On the penultimate lap the
fight for third was hotting up between O’Halloran and Haslam, with O’Halloran on the softer rear Pirelli’s compared to the JG Speedfit man who opted for his usual SC2 front and harder rear compounds.
But at the flag the Fireblade pipped the ZX-10RR with Haslam fighting back to take fourth, with Dan Linfoot completing the top five. RAF Reserves Kawasaki’s Jake Dixon, Smiths Racing’s Peter Hickman, Moto Rapido Ducati’s John Hopkins, rookie Bradley Ray and ex World Superbike champ, Sylvain Guintoli all finished inside the top ten.
Ellison was not the only rider to experience a problem with his bike, JG Speedfit Kawasaki’s Luke Mossey retreated to the pits with a brake issue with his ZX-10RR. The local rider suffered a crash during warm up, and even though he was OK his bike wasn’t. The Kawasaki was a mess and a new bike had to be built, but for Mossey something wasn’t quite right and he found his way to his garage.
There were are few fallers out on circuit, including Bennetts Suzuki’s Taylor Mackenzie who’s bike was a complete wreck after his crash at Hamilton. Former World Superbike racer, Jakub Smrz took a tumble at Wilson and fortunately both riders were declared OK at the track side. At the flag McConnell, Laverty, Jackson, Bridewell and Elliott were the last of the points finishers.
It was the first BSB points for Tyco BMW’s Josh Elliott, who is riding in place of the injured Christian Iddon for this round. His young team-mate Andy Reid ended his debut British Superbike race just outside the points in P17.
