Haslam doubles up at Cadwell Park

Full BSB race two results from Cadwell Park

Leon Haslam has taken a stranglehold in the Bennetts British Superbike championship title fight with a dominant double victory at Cadwell Park.

The JG Speedfit Kawasaki rider guaranteed his BSB Showdown spot with victory in the opening race, along with Jake Dixon who secured third place, and the two battled for top spot honours in race two.

With Buildbase Suzuki’s Bradley Ray leading the opening stages, the race triggered into life on lap 12 when Haslam dived up the inside of Ray at Park corner before Dixon quickly followed him through around the Gooseneck.

A lap later Dixon made his own move for the lead at Park corner which allowed Haslam to follow his nearest title rival in the closing stages. Haslam made his move for the lead at Park corner on the penultimate lap but knew the RAF Regular & Reserves Kawasaki rider would look to repay the favour on the final lap.

Dixon duly pitched himself to go down the inside at Park corner but was squeezed hard by Haslam which forced the youngster off the brakes to run on to the grass – which allowed Ray to sneak past into second place for a repeat of the race one podium.

With focus shifting to the BSB Showdown, which comes into play after the next round at Silverstone, Haslam now holds a 31 Podium Point advantage over nearest rival Dixon, with Ray three points behind Dixon.

Smiths Racing BMW’s Peter Hickman gives his BSB Showdown hopes a huge boost with fourth place, moving into the top six places following the Cadwell Park round, with fellow Showdown challenger Glenn Irwin taking fifth place for Be Wiser Ducati.

Tyco BMW’s Christian Iddon kept his own Showdown hopes alive with sixth place ahead of team-mate Michael Laverty as Danny Buchan recovered from his race one off to take eighth place for FS-3 Racing Kawasaki.

Richard Cooper completed a solid race weekend for Buildbase Suzuki in ninth place ahead of Luke Mossey (JG Speedfit Kawasaki) and Honda duo Jason O’Halloran and Tom Neave.

Martin Jessopp bounced back from his race one off to score points in 13^th for Ridersmotorcycles.com BMW as Sylvain Barrier (Smiths Racing BMW) and Shaun Winfield (Anvil Hire TAG Yamaha) rounded out the points places.

It was a disaster race for James Ellison who suffered technical issues during the warm-up lap with his Anvil Hire TAG Yamaha before failing to start the race.

BSB Showdown contender Josh Brookes was forced out of race two with a mechanical issue with his McAMS Yamaha midway through the race, while Tommy Bridewell wrecked a promising race running in fourth place by crashing his Moto Rapido Ducati at Barn corner at the end of lap six.