by Steven Roe
The sixth round of the British Superbikes was kicked off today with a triple race weekend at Oulton Park. After the wet practice conditions of Friday, todays weather was quite the opposite with the track remaining dry throughout the day for both qualifying and race one. The qualifying results from this morning had Hill on Pole position, Josh Brookes second fastest and Ian Lowry in third.
The first race of the weekend which took place today saw Tommy Hill dominate on his Swan Yamaha. He flew from the on set and within a few laps had a massive lead ahead of title contenders Brookes and Byrne. By the end of the race he was over 4 seconds ahead at the chequered flag.
A moment on lap four with Laverty’s Samsung honda resulted in him crashing and delaying the other racing rivals, giving a big time advantage to Hill. Byrne had to take action and sit his Rapid Solicitors Kawaskai up and collided with Brookes Tyco Suzuki. Whilst nobody could catch Hill from this point the battle for second continued between Laverty, Byrne, Brookes and Lowry.
Alex Lowes looked like he was out to impress when he managed to get to the front from nineteenth position. However on lap nine he dropped his bike at Brittens chicane from his fourth position place. Lowes managed to set his fastest lap before the crash to secured pole position for race two tomorrow. Lowes was not the only person to fall at Brittens, Ian Lowry’s Pagetts Honda also fell victim to the chicane on lap three.
Brookes placed pressure on Bryne throughout the race as they both battled for vital podium credits. He managed to clinch the second spot on the last corner of the final lap. This move has resulted in Brookes moving up the championship standing to second place ahead of Byrne by one point.
Hills Team mate Haga qualified in eleventh place but managed to finish the race in fourth position ahead of James Westmoreland on fifth and Tommy Bridewell in Sixth.
Tomorrow’s two races should be filled with drama and passion with the top six riders currently heading the championship out for wins. Byrne has said he was gutted with third position in race one and no doubt this will show in his riding. Hill wants to continue to increase his current 14 point lead and Brookes is after that all elusive win at Oulton Park.
