Shane 'Shakey' Byrne returned to winning ways in the opening MCE British Superbike Championship race at Oulton Park, claiming his 67th career win as title nemesis Josh Brookes delivered a hard-charging performance to bag fourth place ahead of Sunday's Showdown-deciding two races.
Byrne had grasped the advantage from the opening lap and had a pack of riders queuing up to try and snatch it away from him led by Tommy Bridewell with James Ellison and Danny Buchan in close contention.
Bridewell was pushing for the lead, but disaster struck the Tyco BMW rider on the seventh lap and as he closed on Byrne to try and make a move he was sidelined by a technical problem that forced him to retire. The Tyco BMW rider still holds fourth place in the overall standings despite his non-points score ahead of tomorrow's Showdown deciding two races.
That left a returning Ellison and young gun Buchan to keep pushing for the final podium positions and the Be Wiser Kawasaki rider was looking for anyway to grab the second place away from the JG Speedfit Kawasaki rider but it wasn't enough. Ellison held him off despite his best efforts to confirm his place in the Showdown six with Buchan celebrating his debut MCE BSB podium finish in third place.
Brookes had started 30th on the grid after his problem in Datatag Qualifying but the Milwaukee Yamaha delivered arguably one of his best performances to date, scything through the field to eventually score a fourth place finish with the podium contenders in his sights.
Dan Linfoot claimed fifth position after a race-long scrap with Luke Mossey as the pair both bid for the Showdown six. The Honda Racing rider narrowly had the edge by the final lap ahead of the rookie with Buildbase BMW locking out seventh and eighth with Richard Cooper and Lee Jackson respectively.
Michael Laverty and Peter Hickman completed the top ten, leaving three Showdown places still up for grabs after the two races tomorrow in Cheshire.
Byrne said: "I want to be five times BSB champion but I am not going to do that finishing in sixth or fourth or whatever. I know how easily things can turn around and the team left no stone unturned to get back at the front. That race was kind of tricky, I wanted to go out and try and get away but at the same time I didn't want to go out and get away and then get 10 or 12 laps in and be doing speedway riding round the whole place!
"When I was leading I had a big push and that got me the gap but when I settled in to a pace that I knew would look after everything, and make sure I had plenty left at the end. The 67th win is finally off my back, so a massive thanks to Paul Bird and everyone who stands by me."
MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship, Oulton Park, race one result:
1.Shane Byrne (PBM Kawasaki)2.James Ellison (JG Speedfit Kawasaki) +0.780s3.Danny Buchan (Be Wiser Kawasaki) +1.784s4.Josh Brookes (Milwaukee Yamaha) +4.421s5.Dan Linfoot (Honda Racing) +10.605s6.Luke Mossey (Quattro Plant Kawasaki) +10.820s7.Richard Cooper (Buildbase BMW) +11.590s8.Lee Jackson (Buildbase BMW) +11.671s9.Michael Laverty (Tyco BMW) +14.628s10.Peter Hickman (RAF Reserves BMW) +23.771s
MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship standings after Oulton Park race one:1.Josh Brookes (Milwaukee Yamaha) 3292.Shane Byrne (PBM Kawasaki) 3023.James Ellison (JG Speedfit Kawasaki) 1674.Tommy Bridewell (Tyco BMW) 1415.Stuart Easton (PBM Kawasaki) 1396.Michael Laverty (Tyco BMW) 133
