Josh Brookes held off a late charge from Peter Hickman to back up his Brands Hatch double with victory in this afternoon’s second Bennetts British Superbike scrap.
The McAMS Yamaha rider cleared off mid-race before being reeled in during the closing laps, but he held on to collect 25 points and move past Glenn Irwin for third in the championship.
Brookes looked to have the strongest start, but it was Dixon who emerged at the front as he led the 2015 champion and Haslam in the opening few corners.
Movuno.com Halsall Racing Suzuki’s Chrissy Rouse got caught up in a tangle at Cobb on the very first lap, and just a couple laps later Shaun Winfield and Danny Buchan crashed out at Campbell’s.
Haslam slipped up the inside of Brookes to take over second soon after that, while further back Tom Neave once again dumped the Honda Racing Fireblade at the Club chicane.
But the other Honda of Jason O’Halloran had crept up into third ahead of Brookes, before the latter struck back at him and continued to move ahead of Haslam, the latter of whom then fell into the clutches of Peter Hickman.
Brookes powered up to Dixon and had a stab at the RAF Regular & Reserves man, but was finally able to make a pass stick at the Club chicane as the Aussie then put the hammer down and extended a 1.2s advantage as the pack reached half-distance.
Smith’s Racing BMW’s Hickman laid a pass on Dixon and tapped his tail moments later to tell the Kawasaki rider to hang on as Hicky made an effort to hunt down Brookes.
But there was no chance for Dixon to follow the TT star’s orders as Haslam poked his head through, splitting Dixon and Hickman on lap 12 of 20.
A few laps later, the JG Speedfit Kawasaki rider went for Hickman and immediately put his head down in attempt to cut Brookes’ lead, but Hickman hit back with two laps to go and right away sliced almost a full second out of Brookes.
Despite his 11th-hour charge, Hickman couldn’t bridge the gap and had to settle for second as Brookes took the win by 0.305s.
Dixon pipped Haslam for the final rostrum spot after a last-lap move at Cobb as he crossed the line just over a tenth of a second clear of the series leader.
Taz Mackenzie finished just 0.383s behind Haslam to take fifth, ahead of O’Halloran and Moto Rapido Ducati’s hometown hero Tommy Bridewell.
Luke Mossey, Be Wiser Ducati’s Glenn Irwin and Team WD-40’s Mason Law rounded out the top 10.
