Brookes sees off Ray for win, Buchan books BSB Showdown spot

Full BSB Race 1 results from Oulton Park

Josh Brookes has claimed his seventh win of the 2019 Bennetts British Superbike campaign to extend his lead at the top of the standings, while fourth place for Danny Buchan sees the FS-3 Racing Kawasaki rider secure his Showdown spot.

The Be Wiser Ducati rider negotiated a Race 1 restart following an early red flag due to multiple accidents which saw key Showdown contenders Peter Hickman and Andrew Irwin crash out in separate incidents.

Over the shortened 14-lap restarted race, Brookes measured his pace against nearest rival Bradley Ray, after Tommy Bridewell pulled out due to a technical issue while briefly leading, which released the 2015 BSB champion to take a controlled victory.

With Ray seuring his first podium of the 2019 BSB campaign for Buildbase Suzuki, Scott Redding produced damage limitation to his title hopes by taking third place with a penultimate lap overtake on Buchan.

As Buchan settled for fourth after a hairy moment throwing him out of the seat, he duly gained his Showdown place ahead of tomorrow’s final two races to decide the top six riders.

Christian Iddon injected momentum into his late Showdown bid with fifth place for Tyco BMW to close in to just five points off the top six.

With Jason O’Halloran (McAMS Yamaha) sixth and Glenn Irwin (Tyco BMW) seventh, Tarran Mackenzie also gave a timely boost to his Showdown hopes as he strengthened his grip on fifth place. Mackenzie has a 14-point advantage over Hickman in seventh place with two races to go.

Alex Olsen stunned on BSB debut for Smiths Racing BMW with ninth place ahead of Ryan Vickers on the RAF Regular & Reserves Kawasaki with Ben Currie in 11^th for Quattro Plant JG Speedfit Kawasaki.

With Luke Mossey in 12^th for OMG Racing Suzuki, James Ellison secured points on his MV Agusta debut in 13^th as Luke Stapleford (Buildbase Suzuki) and Joe Francis (PR Racing Lloyds & Jones BMW) rounded out the points places.