Datatag British Superbikes Official Sponsor - Round 7 Oulton Park
British Superbikes Round 7 Oulton Park 8th-10th August 2013
No backing off for Brookes in final race at Oulton Park
Josh Brookes was relentless in his quest for victory in the final MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship race of the weekend at Oulton Park as the Milwaukee Yamaha rider put on a dominating show to halt Ryuichi Kiyonari score a hat trick of victories in Cheshire.
On a drying track Brookes instantly fired himself off the line to lead the pack and then consistently set lap times faster than his rivals to edge out an advantage. Brookes pushed hard lap after lap to maintain his lead over Shane 'Shakey' Byrne in second to claim his fourth victory of the season and close again in the podium points standings.
Byrne was holding a comfortable second but then as the last three laps approached he was rapidly being closed down by the pack fighting for third position, led by Dan Linfoot. The Quattro Plant Kawasaki rider was holding third after making a move on Stuart Easton earlier in the race at Old Hall to put himself in contention for his first podium finish.
Linfoot and Easton had been swapping positions but behind they were also under threat from Kiyonari, Josh Waters, Tommy Bridewell and Chris Walker who had all been dicing over the opening laps.
Byrne was losing the gap and as the final laps got underway Linfoot made a move on lap 15 at Old Hall but the championship leader wasn't giving an inch. He ran alongside the Quattro Plant Kawasaki rider on the run down Lakeside to move back ahead by the narrowest of margins.
Byrne held off Linfoot for second with the Yorkshire rider celebrating his first podium finish in the championship. He held off Kiyonari on the drag to the line from Deer Leep for the final time with Easton completing the top five.
Waters held off Walker for sixth place with Bridewell having to settle for eighth place on the second Milwaukee Yamaha. Jon Kirkham and Jakub Smrz completed a top ten that featured five different manufacturers.
MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship, Oulton Park, race three:
- Josh Brookes (Milwaukee Yamaha)
- Shane Byrne (Rapid Solicitors Kawasaki) +7.509s
- Dan Linfoot (Quattro Plant Kawasaki) +7.986s
- Ryuichi Kiyonari (Buildbase BMW) +8.111s
- Stuart Easton (Rapid Solicitors Kawasaki) +10.049s
- Josh Waters (Tyco Suzuki) +10.430s
- Chris Walker (Lloyds British GBmoto Racing Kawasaki) +11.067s
- Tommy Bridewell (Milwaukee Yamaha) +12.451s
- Jon Kirkham (Halsall Biker Gear Kawasaki) +12.948s
- Jakub Smrz (Millsport Ducati) +24.728s
MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship standings after Oulton Park race three:
- Shane Byrne (Rapid Solicitors Kawasaki) 313
- Josh Brookes (Milwaukee Yamaha) 244
- Ryuichi Kiyonari (Buildbase BMW) 202
- Dan Linfoot (Quattro Plant Kawasaki) 156
- Tommy Bridewell (Milwaukee Yamaha) 142
- Chris Walker (Lloyds British GBmoto Racing Kawasaki) 136
Byrne blasts to pole position by 0.049s at Oulton Park from Brookes
Shane 'Shakey' Byrne fired to the pole position for this afternoon's opening MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship race at Oulton Park, snatching it from Josh Brookes on his final lap as the pair were separated by just 0.049s.
In the frantic twelve minute Q3 session to decide the pole position the fastest rider on track changed five times as initially Lloyds British GBmoto Racing Kawasaki's Chris Walker had the edge over the opening flying laps.
However the fight for the pole position became a tussle between Byrne and Brookes with the pair circulating on track together. However on his final lap Championship leader Byrne had the edge to claim his fourth pole start of the season for the Rapid Solicitors Kawasaki.
Brookes held second with Dan Linfoot scoring his second consecutive front row qualifying start for the Quattro Plant Kawasaki team to complete the front row.
There was drama for the Buildbase BMW team as Ryuichi Kiyonari looked set to challenge for the pole position but he crashed out of Q2 at Brittens leaving it a race against time for his team to get him back on track for the final session. Kiyonari managed to leave pitlane in the final minutes but despite the team's valiant efforts he was just short of passing the start line before the chequered flag and will start tenth for race one.
Tommy Bridewell heads the second row on the Milwaukee Yamaha alongside Barry Burrell who celebrated his best qualifying performance of the season for WD40 Kawasaki, with Walker in sixth place.
Tyco Suzuki's John Hopkins had fired himself into the top ten with his final lap of Q2, knocking his team-mate Josh Waters out of the Q3 session, with the American securing seventh on the grid. Peter Hickman on the RAF Reserves Honda was eighth fastest ahead of Jakub Smrz who crashed his Millsport Ducati unhurt at Lodge.
MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship, Oulton Park, Datatag Extreme Qualifying:
- Shane Byrne (Rapid Solicitors Kawasaki) 1m:35.463s
- Josh Brookes (Milwaukee Yamaha) +0.049s
- Dan Linfoot (Quattro Plant Kawasaki) +0.393s
- Tommy Bridewell (Milwaukee Yamaha)+0.513s
- Barry Burrell (Team WD40 Kawasaki) +0.642s
- Chris Walker (Lloyds British GBmoto Racing Kawasaki) +0.769s
- John Hopkins (Tyco Suzuki) +0.828s
- Peter Hickman (RAF Reserves Honda) +0.997s
- Jakub Smrz (Millsport Ducati) +10.136s
- Ryuichi Kiyonari (Buildbase BMW)
Datatag Extreme Qualifying from Oulton Park
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