Tarran Mackenzie stole his maiden Bennetts British Superbike victory this afternoon following a move that caused race-long leader Jason O’Halloran to crash out.
The McAMS Yamaha duo had been leading the entire race, but Mackenzie snatched the win after he made a dive up the inside of the his team mate on the last lap at the penultimate corner and O’Halloran fell.
Australian O’Halloran was the quickest out of the gates as he shot from second on the grid ahead of pole sitter Mackenzie, who tucked in behind, but Redding and Elliot were just behind.
OMG Suzuki’s Elliott found a way past Redding after a number of attempts, while the former GP star fell into the clutches of Santander Salt TAG Racing’s Dan Linfoot in fifth just as Silicone Engineering’s Dean Harrison hit the deck.
But the safety car was deployed moments later on lap five as EHA Racing’s David Allingham and the JG Speedfit Kawasakis of Glenn Irwin and Ben Currie all went down at the entry to Becketts.
When action got back underway on lap eight, the McAMS boys and Elliott immediately began stretching a slight gap away from Redding in fourth.
As the race crossed the half way mark, the leading trio had extended a one second advantage over the chasing Be Wiser Ducati.
Meanwhile, the other factory V4 of Josh Brookes had been slicing his way through the field, levering Christian Iddon Aside for eighth with just over 10 laps to go after starting 18th on the grid courtesy of yesterday’s engine expiry. But the race was over for the 2015 champ after another technical on lap 23 as his Panigale shut down and he pushed it into the pits.
Back at the front, O’Halloran held station as he and his Yamaha compatriot gapped Elliott, but after leading the entire race, O’Halloran was bumped by Mackenzie on the final corner as the Aussie hit the gravel within sight of his first victory since Snetterton 2016 as Mackenzie took the win. But race officials quickly declared that the move was under investigation.
Northern Irishman Elliott bagged his best ever finish and first BSB podium in second ahead of Redding, who completed the podium.
Luke Mossey, Oxford Ducati’s Tommy Bridewell and Andrew Irwin rounded out the top six while Luke Stapleford took seventh just a few seconds adrift of the Honda Racing man.
Team WD40 man Claudio Corti, FS-3 Kawasaki’s Danny Buchan and Xavi Fores completed the top 10.
