Haslam triumphs in Silverstone thriller
Full BSB race one results from Silverstone
Leon Haslam has fortified his lead in the Bennetts British Superbike championship with victory in the Silverstone opener, the first on the National circuit, fending off Glenn Irwin who secures his Showdown spot while Tarran Mackenzie grabs his maiden podium.
Full BSB race one results from Silverstone
Leon Haslam has fortified his lead in the Bennetts British Superbike championship with victory in the Silverstone opener, the first on the National circuit, fending off Glenn Irwin who secures his Showdown spot while Tarran Mackenzie grabs his maiden podium.
The JG Speedfit Kawasaki rider was involved in a four-rider tussle for victory in the closing stages and made his decisive moves on the penultimate lap having watched his rivals' pace over the opening stages.
Haslam darted up the inside of Irwin at Copse before fending off a late race attack to clinch his 10th win of the year ahead of the BSB Showdown which comes into the play after the Silverstone round.
Despite having to settle for second place the Be Wiser Ducati rider has booked his place in the Showdown with two races to spare, while 2015 BSB champion Josh Brookes has also secured his top six title fighter place with fourth place.
Brookes lost out to McAMS Yamaha team-mate Mackenzie who led his maiden laps in BSB before settling for third place by defending from the Australia rider around the final corner to take his first podium in the series.
With Brookes in fourth, Jake Dixon grabbed fifth place for RAF Regular & Reserves Kawasaki having kept clear of the second group headed up by Honda’s Jason O’Halloran on the final lap.
Luke Mossey edged out BSB Showdown contender Peter Hickman who holds on to sixth place in the BSB standings with his direct rivals all finishing behind him.
Gino Rea grabbed a BSB career-best ninth place on the OMG Suzuki with Tommy Bridewell in 10th – following a clash with Richard Cooper which saw the Buildbase Suzuki rider crash out – with Andrew Irwin taking 11th place for Be Wiser Ducati.
Honda’s Dan Linfoot clinched 12th place ahead of BSB Showdown challenger Danny Buchan, who battled up from 23rd after a poor qualifying, with Tyco BMW duo Michael Laverty and Christian Iddon rounding out the points places.
Iddon made a dramatic return to action with a broken left collarbone sustained during qualifying with the points finish to keep his Showdown hopes alive.
Pole-sitter Bradley Ray suffered a disaster in race one crashing out from the lead on the fourth lap on the Buildbase Suzuki which sees him drop to fifth in the standings and adds pressure to his place on the Showdown.
