Josh Brookes claimed his second Bennetts British Superbike Championship race win of the season for the FHO Racing BMW Motorrad Team, celebrating the opening victory at Oulton Park in the BikeSocial Sprint Race that was red flagged on the penultimate lap for rain.
Brookes got a flying start from the Omologato Pole Position to lead the pack into Old Hall for the first time ahead of Storm Stacey, Leon Haslam, Glenn Irwin and Jason O’Halloran. It was disappointment for the McAMS Yamaha team though when O’Halloran crashed out at Cascades on the second lap.
Haslam made a move on Stacey at Island to move second with Glenn Irwin moving into third at Hizzys on the opening lap and the trio then became the force at the front of the field.
Brookes was withstanding the pressure from his ROKiT BMW Motorrad and BeerMonster Ducati rivals as they continued to try to line up an attack for the lead.
As the race reached the penultimate lap, rain began to fall at the race was subsequently red flagged as Brookes became the first race winner in the Milwaukee Grand Slam. Haslam became the fifth different podium finisher of the season so far in second place, whilst Glenn Irwin completed the top three.
Peter Hickman delivered a determined ride to carve his way through the field to finish fourth on the second FHO Racing BMW Motorrad machine, closing in on the leading trio over the closing stages of the race.
Tommy Bridewell had an equally strong performance, finishing the race fifth on the second BeerMonster Ducati after starting 15th on the grid after a difficult eBay Qualifying session earlier in the afternoon.
Bridewell had got the better of Andrew Irwin who led the Honda Racing UK charge in sixth, just ahead of LAMI OMG Racing Yamaha’s Kyle Ryde. Christian Iddon meanwhile was able to stay ahead of Stacey in the closing stages to get his best result of the season so far in eighth, as Stacey ended his positive day in Cheshire with a top ten finish.
Cheshire Mouldings Kawasaki’s Lee Jackson completed the top ten ahead of tomorrow’s two races.
Bennetts British Superbike Championship, Oulton Park, BikeSocial Sprint Race result:
- Josh Brookes (FHO Racing BMW Motorrad)
- Leon Haslam (ROKiT BMW Motorrad) +0.186s
- Glenn Irwin (BeerMonster Ducati) +0.441s
- Peter Hickman (FHO Racing BMW Motorrad) +1.152s
- Tommy Bridewell (BeerMonster Ducati) +4.790s
- Andrew Irwin (Honda Racing UK) +4.977s
- Kyle Ryde (LAMI OMG Racing Yamaha) +13.661s
- Christian Iddon (Oxford Products Racing Ducati) +13.784s
- Storm Stacey (Starline Racing Kawasaki) +13.987s
- Lee Jackson (Cheshire Mouldings Kawasaki) +14.093s
Bennetts British Superbike Championship standings:
- Josh Brookes (FHO Racing BMW Motorrad) 66
- Glenn Irwin (BeerMonster Ducati) 57
- Tommy Bridewell (BeerMonster Ducati) 57
- Kyle Ryde (LAMI OMG Racing Yamaha) 48
- Leon Haslam (ROKiT BMW Motorrad) 46
- Jason O’Halloran (McAMS Yamaha) 35
- Jack Kennedy (Mar-Train Racing Yamaha) 30
- Danny Kent (Lovell Kent Racing Honda) 27
- Andrew Irwin (Honda Racing UK) 25
- Peter Hickman (FHO Racing BMW Motorrad) 21
FHO Racing BMW Motorrad
“It was obviously great to take the win today, it’s good for all the team, sponsors and partners involved. To everyone else it probably looked like I was out at the front having an easy time and controlling the race, but it was actually quite difficult because I was that first rider on track.
“I could see my lap times on my dash and I wasn’t impressed by any means, so I tried to improve as I was expecting an attack from the riders behind me. I had a few moments where the rear would spin and I’d lose some time, so I just focussed on trying to be as methodical as possible and not make any mistakes, not improve the lap time but just maintain it.
“Towards the end with the rain I desperately didn’t want to put my hand up, I could see the rain on the lap before on the visor, then when I came through to Island Bend on the penultimate lap it was red flagged.
“I know it was the only option, but I would have liked to have taken the win over the finish line with the chequered flag. The BMW felt really sweet in the race, but we’re always trying to improve, but in the race we really did hit a sweet spot and it did feel really good to ride. So hopefully that accelerates us even further tomorrow.”
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