Josh Brookes held on to claim the opening MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship race win of the day at Silverstone as the Milwaukee Yamaha rider fought off the challenges of his rivals to beat Shane 'Shakey' Byrne to victory.
On the opening lap John Hopkins launched to the front of the pack on the Lloyds British Moto Rapido Ducati but Brookes was instantly attacking and he moved ahead at Vale. Byrne had started from the fourth row of the grid and the defending champion made up two places on the opening lap as he began his battle through the pack.
James Ellison wasn't going to let Brookes get away though and the JG Speedfit Kawasaki burst through ahead of Hopkins and then was hunting his Australian rival. As the pack shuffled Danny Buchan crashed out unhurt at Copse, but at the front Ellison had closed down Brookes and there was just 0.8s separating the leading freight train of five riders. Meanwhile Byrne had worked his way through to fifth and was on a mission to get to the front.
Ellison claimed the lead from Brookes at Stowe on the seventh lap and he then held off the challenge from Brookes, Byrne who had moved through into third, Hopkins and the closing Peter Hickman. Brookes wasn't going to settle for the position though and he made a decisive move on the eleventh lap to charge ahead at Copse with Ellison taking the position back.
A lap later though and Ellison again was passed by Brookes and then pushed back to third by Byrne on the same lap as the JG Speedfit Kawasaki slid the JG Speedfit Kawasaki wide and managed to force it back into line.
Byrne was closing on Brookes but Ellison had Hickman for company on the penultimate lap and a move at Luffield saw the RAF Reserves BMW rider move ahead and Ellison then lost a further position to Hopkins who was still stalking him for the position.
Brookes held on to claim his third win in the Showdown from Byrne with Hickman returning to the podium as the leading Showdown spoiler ahead of Hopkins and Ellison. Michael Laverty held a lonely sixth place from the battling Dan Linfoot who got the better of Bennetts Suzuki's Christian Iddon. Tommy Bridewell and Jakub Smrz completed the top ten.
MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship, Silverstone, race one result:1.Josh Brookes (Milwaukee Yamaha)2.Shane Byrne (PBM Kawasaki) +0.688s3.Peter Hickman (RAF Reserves BMW) +1.923s4.John Hopkins (Lloyds British Moto Rapido Ducati) +2.745s5.James Ellison (JG Speedfit Kawasaki) +3.254s6.Michael Laverty (Tyco BMW) +3.480s7.Dan Linfoot (Honda Racing) +6.377s8.Christian Iddon (Bennetts Suzuki) +8.999s9.Tommy Bridewell (Tyco BMW) +11.786s10.Jakub Smrz (Milwaukee Yamaha) +12.280s
MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship standings after Silverstone race one:1.Josh Brookes (Milwaukee Yamaha) 6282.Shane Byrne (PBM Kawasaki) 5953.James Ellison (JG Speedfit Kawasaki) 5734.Michael Laverty (Tyco BMW) 5335.Tommy Bridewell (Tyco BMW) 5226.Dan Linfoot (Honda Racing) 518
The final round of the 2015 MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship takes place at Brands Hatch
