Be Wiser Ducati’s Josh Brookes extended his Bennetts British Superbike points lead with in a win in race one at Oulton Park but the Aussie was kept honest by Buildbase Suzuki’s Brad Ray after leader Tommy Bridewell retired.
In a race that was re-started after a crash-strewn opening few laps, Brookes, Bridewell and Ray opened a gap over the pack with the Oxford Ducati man taking the lead on the fourth lap of 14.
But disaster struck at Cascades one lap later when his Panigale V4R ceased to function and he rolled to a stop at Brittens, handing Brookes the lead with Ray in close attendance.
Brookes, who won both races at the track earlier in the year, moved away from Ray, finishing with a four-second gap with Scott Redding taking third place after Danny Buchan had a big moment on the entry to Druids.
Buchan had worked his way from the back of the grid in the first race and was in seventh when the red flags came out after both Peter Hickman and Dan Linfoot crashed in separate incidents.
Showdown contender Andrew Irwin didn’t make the re-start after he got tangled up in a crash with David Allingham and Shaun Winfield as he too started from the back of the grid after a penalty.
Buchan sealed his Showdown spot with fourth place while Tyco BMW’s Christian Iddon moved closer to a top-six spot with his fifth place.
Jason O’Halloran took sixth for the McAMS Yamaha squad with Glenn Irwin in seventh. Tarran Mackenzie strengthened his Showdown chances with seventh place while Alex Olsen, in his first-ever race in BSB, was ninth.
Ryan Vickers came through from the wrong end of the grid after his qualifying blow-up to secure tenth place with Ben Currie 11th. James Ellison, Luke Stapleford and Joe Francis completed the top 15 with Xavi Fores 16th.
In terms of the battle for the final two Showdown spots, Mackenzie has opened a 13 point gap over Irwin while non-scores for Irwin, Hickman and Fores means Iddon is now only ten points from sixth place.
At the other end, Brookes is now 21 points ahead of Redding and has six more podium credits.
