Alex Lowes claimed his first double win of the MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship in front of a huge home crowd at Cadwell Park, but the Samsung Honda rider came under intense pressure on the final lap with Tyco Suzuki’s Josh Brookes snatching the lead before crashing out of contention.
Race 1
Lowes celebrated his first win in the opening race of the day as the Samsung Honda team secured victory for the first time since 2010 at their home ground.
Lowes fired off the line from his pole position in front of a huge home crowd in Lincolnshire and behind him Shane ‘Shakey’ Byrne, James Ellison, PJ Jacobsen and Josh Brookes in close contention. The Tyco Suzuki team-mates switched positions at the end of the opening lap as the Australian passed the American into Hall Bends.
Lowes held the position at the front despite coming under pressure from title rival Byrne and Ellison, however the Milwaukee Yamaha rider lost third place to a hard-charging Brookes into Barn on the twelfth lap. Ellison remained pushing with the leading trio before a crash at the bottom of the Mountain on the fourteenth lap left him frustrated as he continues to chase a Showdown position.
Halsall Racing Kawasaki’s Tommy Bridewell had another impressive performance with a fourth place as he carved his way up the order to close the lead pack as Jacobsen dropped into a lonely fifth place in the closing stages on the second of the Tyco Suzukis.
Chris Walker had a determined race to move up the order and claim sixth place as he tries to keep his hopes of an outside chance at the Showdown alive on the Quattro Plant Bournemouth Kawasaki. Ryuichi Kiyonari had a bad start from the second row of the grid and the Samsung Honda rider had to make some hard moves on his rivals to carve his way up to seventh ahead of Peter Hickman on the leading Lloyds British GBmoto Honda.
Keith Farmer lost ground when he ran wide at Coppice on the opening lap and he worked hard to claw his way back to ninth ahead of James Westmoreland who completed the top ten.
Results – Race 1
1. Alex Lowes (Samsung Honda)
2. Shane Byrne (Rapid Solicitors Kawasaki) +1.056s
3. Josh Brookes (Tyco Suzuki) +1.969s
4. Tommy Bridewell (Halsall Racing Kawasaki) +4.626s
5. PJ Jacobsen (Tyco Suzuki) +14.827s
6. Chris Walker (Quattro Plant Bournemouth Kawasaki) +16.040s
7. Ryuichi Kiyonari (Samsung Honda) +16.213s
8. Peter Hickman (Lloyds British GBmoto Honda) +19.183s
9. Keith Farmer (Rapid Solicitors Kawasaki) +28.682s
10. James Westmoreland (Buildbase BMW) +29.267s
Race 2
Brookes had hit the front of the field on the opening lap but it wasn’t long before race one winner Lowes made a move for the lead with a dive down the inside into Park corner. The Samsung Honda rider instantly came back under attack from Brookes, but Lowes held the position with Tommy Bridewell holding an impressive third place ahead of James Ellison and Shane ‘Shakey’ Byrne.
Bridewell was constantly looking for a way to get ahead of Brookes and on the sixth lap he was given the opportunity when the Tyco Suzuki rider made an uncharacteristic mistake on the landing at the Mountain which unsettled him, and the Halsall Racing Kawasaki rider made a move into Hall Bends.
Ellison was then piling the pressure on Brookes and hassling the Tyco Suzuki rider, as he was pushing the Milwaukee Yamaha rider to try and make amends for his crash in the opening race. Brookes rode hard to keep him behind with Byrne also on the back of the lead pack.
At the front the battle was raging as Lowes held the advantage from Bridewell and Brookes, but in the closing stages the Australian upped the ante to first pass Bridewell on the penultimate lap with a move down the inside at the Hairpin.
Brookes was then pushing to close in on Lowes and on the final lap he made a lunge down the inside into Park to hit the front of the pack again. Lowes was looking to get back ahead but on the run into Mansfield Brookes made an error and crashed out of the race unhurt.
Brookes said: “I’ve run it over in my head a thousand times since it happened and the bottom line is, I got into the lead and just messed up. But in hindsight it was better to have a go at the win. After I made a mistake over the Mountain I hunted Bridewell down and the pass on Alex on the last lap was pretty easy to be honest, as I got good drive out of Charlie’s and was quicker all race into Park, making up loads of ground. I just tucked the front a couple of corners after that but I’m not hurt, the bikes not too badly damaged and we only lost three podium credits.”
Lowes claimed the double win as Samsung Honda celebrated at their home round whilst an emotional Bridewell equalled his best ever finish in the championship with a second place for Halsall Racing Kawasaki in only his second round with the team following a stunning performance as Ellison returned to the podium in third ahead of Byrne.
Lowes said: “It has been a fairytale weekend. That race was so hard and fair play to Josh as he stuck with me and pushed me. When he came passed me I thought no, I have led all this time and he has got me on the final lap, but then luck was on my side. I hope Josh is ok and I am sure he is going to come back strong at Donington. I want to thank my team and I am looking forward to the rest of the season.”
Ryuichi Kiyonari claimed a fifth place ahead of Chris Walker who held off Peter Hickman on the Lloyds British GBmoto Honda. The pair had been fighting it out with PJ Jacobsen but the Tyco Suzuki rider crashed out at Charlies on the ninth lap unhurt. Josh Waters returned to the top ten on the second of the Milwaukee Yamahas ahead of the duelling Buildbase BMWs of James Westmoreland and Jon Kirkham.
Results – Race 2
1. Alex Lowes (Samsung Honda)
2. Tommy Bridewell (Halsall Racing Kawasaki) +0.892s
3. James Ellison (Milwaukee Yamaha) +4.371s
4. Shane Byrne (Rapid Solicitors Kawasaki) +6.375s
5. Ryuichi Kiyonari (Samsung Honda) +9.787s
6. Chris Walker (Quattro Plant Bournemouth Kawasaki) +16.095s
7. Peter Hickman (Lloyds British GBmoto Honda) +16.197s
8. Josh Waters (Milwaukee Yamaha) +17.379s
9. James Westmoreland (Buildbase BMW) +29.029s
10. Jon Kirkham (Buildbase BMW) +31.420s
MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship standings after Cadwell Park
1. Shane Byrne (Rapid Solicitors Kawasaki) 330
2. Alex Lowes (Samsung Honda) 293
3. Josh Brookes (Tyco Suzuki) 284
4. James Ellison (Milwaukee Yamaha) 174
5. Ryuichi Kiyonari (Samsung Honda) 162
6. Jon Kirkham (Buildbase BMW) 135
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