Round 7 - MCE British Superbike Championship - Thruxton - Race Day
MCE British Superbike fans were at Thruxton nice and early for the priority pit walk. With another fantastic turnout the paddock was full of fans, riders and grid girls - and Big Ed and the Selfie Squad of course!
Some lucky Club MCE members also spent the morning enjoying their safety car and pillion laps around the speedy circuit.
With the day in full flow race one arrived in no time and the grid was once more full of MCE BSB riders ready to race. It was Josh Brookes who was able to continue his winning streak in the championship with his third successive win in the championship.
The first few laps of the race were incident packed with Richard Cooper's Kawasaki suffering a blow up, followed by Ellison and Iddon crashing out of the race, the former suffering a broken wrist and continuing his streak of bad luck of late.
When the action recommenced Hopkins took the lead, but Brookes was soon to regain the lead and not let go of it. Hopkins and Linfoot battled to catch the Australian up, however the Ducati rider suffered a technical problem and was forced to retire from the race one action.
Byrne was able to climb up from his 17th place start and partake in a seven-rider battle for the podium. It was to be Westmoreland's day in the end, with a third place finish for the JG Speedfit rider - no doubt an excellent confidence boost from what has been a disappointing season so far for the rider. Buchan crashed out in the final lap, involving Bridewell in the process with them both forced to head back to the pits with no points.
With Brookes now seven points clear over Shane Byrne race two was always going to be an interesting one. Shakey demonstrated in race one that he evidently has race pace having climbed through the grid and finish in fourth position overall.
It was to be Josh Brookes' day however, able to capitalise on his front row start he finished in first position. With four race wins in a row Brookes now leads Byrne in the standings by 12 points, with PBM Kawasaki rider Byrne finishing in 2nd place, followed by MCE BSB rookie Luke Mossey. The race was full of thrills with the likes of John Hopkins and Dan Linfoot trying to catch the Milwaukee Yamaha rider, displacing Byrne down to fourth in the process.
The pack bunched up again when the safety car was deployed following Jack Kennedy's crash. With five laps remaining the race had some added excitement as the riders tried to take advantage on the restart. Hopkins pushed too hard and crashed out a lap later, unhurt, with his bike narrowly avoiding the chasing pack in the process.
What followed was an incredible and unlikely battle between Mossey and Byrne for the second place finish, in a succession of daring overtakes it was Byrne who finished in the second place position, followed by Mossey who completed the podium. Bridewell, Linfoot and Laverty made up the top six.
This weekend proved to any doubters why Thruxton is hailed as the 'fastest race of the year' with some incredible racing around the circuit heaped in history. The next stop for the MCE BSB championship is Cadwell which is another fan favourite. Can Brookes continue his double double? Or is Shakey going to demonstrate once more why he is the four-time-champ? We can't wait to find out!
02.08.2015 - Big Ed
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