At the beginning the front group was formed by six riders, but the fall of Glenn Irwin (it’s not clear yet how it happened…) at Island caused the group to be splitted and Dixon e Haslam distanced their opponents and started a duel on laptimes, which was early decided about the final result: as unusual for him, Haslam took the lead at the seventh lap by overtaking a wonderful Jake Dixon at Lodge. So, Haslam his second win in a row and this makes him get closer to championship leader Bradley Ray, whose advantage on Haslam is just of 2 points. The young Buildbase Suzuki rider finished the race fourth behind also Shane Byrne, who grabbed third place with an aggressive overtake on Jason O’Halloran at Hizzy’s Chicane. The move wasi initially “under Investigation“, but in the end Race Direction decided not to penalise Byrne.
Good recovery by Josh Brookes, who finished sixth after starting from the fourth row, while comeback Ryuichi Kiyonari ranked 12th. Many riders crashed: Michael Laverty (first lap), Glenn Irwin, Peter Hickman, Luke Mossey and Taylor Mackenzie, who had been very competitive in Practice sessions on his Moto Rapido Ducati.
2018 Bennetts British Superbike Championship 2018
Oulton Park
Race 1 Classification
01- Leon Haslam – JG Speedfit Kawasaki – Kawasaki ZX-10RR – 18 laps
02- Jake Dixon – RAF Regular & Reserves – Kawasaki ZX-10RR – + 1.624
03- Shane Byrne – Be Wiser Ducati – Ducati Panigale R – + 6.224
04- Bradley Ray – Buildbase Suzuki – Suzuki GSX-R 1000 – + 10.170
05- Jason O’Halloran – Honda Racing – Honda CBR 1000RR – + 14.699
06- Josh Brookes – McAMS Yamaha – Yamaha YZF R1 – + 15.786
07- Danny Buchan – FS-3 Racing – Kawasaki ZX-10RR – + 18.745
08- Tommy Bridewell – Movuno.com Halsall – Suzuki GSX-R 1000 – + 21.043
09- Tarran Mackenzie – McAMS Yamaha – Yamaha YZF R1 – + 21.290
10- Richard Cooper – Buildbase Suzuki – Suzuki GSX-R 1000 – + 21.568
11- James Ellison – Anvil Hire TAG Yamaha – Yamaha YZF R1 – + 33.082
12- Ryuichi Kiyonari – Honda Racing – Honda CBR 1000RR – + 41.143
13- Gino Rea – OMG Racing UK LTD – Suzuki GSX-R 1000 – + 42.166
14- Jakub Smrz – Lloyd & Jones Bowker Motorrad – BMW S1000RR – + 42.207
15- Mason Law – Team WD-40 – Kawasaki ZX-10RR – + 45.409
16- Sylvain Barrier – Smiths Racing – BMW S1000RR – + 46.755
17- Dean Harrison – Silicone Engineering – Kawasaki ZX-10RR – + 51.065
18- Martin Jessopp – RidersMotorcycles.com BMW – BMW S1000RR – + 1’02.651
19- David Johnson – Gulf BMW – BMW S1000RR – + 1’03.115
20- Shaun Winfield – Anvil Hire TAG Yamaha – Yamaha YZF R1 – + 1’03.195
21- Connor Cummins – Padgetts Racing – Honda CBR 1000RR – + 1’16.899