Peter Hickman mastered the damp conditions to claim his second victory of the 2016 MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship, holding off Christian Iddon and Glenn Irwin over the closing stages as title contender Leon Haslam crashed out of the opening race at Brands Hatch.
At the start Iddon had launched himself into the lead for Tyco BMW as Tommy Bridewell and Jason O'Halloran tucked in behind, however the start of the race was incident packed, firstly when Broc Parkes crashed and collected James Rispoli on the second lap, however both riders were able to walk away.
A lap later and the race was halted after a high-speed crash for Filip Backlund, who later walked away, and Howie Mainwaring-Smart who suffered a broken wrist and has been taken to hospital for a full assessment.
When the race resumed O’Halloran was the rider that instantly took the advantage from Iddon and Haslam who had carved his way up the order to run in third position. The race was then halted as rain began to fall and then was restarted in wet conditions.
The race was all over for Haslam on the opening lap when he crashed on the exit of Druids, despite being sore the JG Speedfit Kawasaki rider has vowed to fight back tomorrow in the final two races.
Iddon had been holding the lead but soon Hickman and Ellison charged through to take the advantages at the front of the field. Ellison then captured the lead but he was another rider to get caught out by the conditions as he slid off at Graham Hill Bend a few laps later.
The Nissan GT-R Safety Car was deployed and when the race resumed Hickman made a lightening getaway to try and break Iddon, which he only executed over the final laps. Glenn Irwin meanwhile celebrated his second podium finish of the season as he made a move on Dan Linfoot with two laps to go to put the Be Wiser Ducati into third place.
Championship leader Shane 'Shakey' Byrne had to settle for sixth place behind Bridewell, but still maintains a 27 point lead ahead of tomorrow’s final two races.
MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship, Brands Hatch, race one result:
Peter Hickman (JG Speedfit Kawasaki)Christian Iddon (Tyco BMW) +1.010sGlenn Irwin (Be Wiser Ducati) +4.634sDan Linfoot (Honda Racing) +5.638sTommy Bridewell (Bennetts Suzuki) +5.686sShane Byrne (Be Wiser Ducati) +13.538sJohn Hopkins (ePayMe Yamaha) +15.182sLee Jackson (Buildbase BMW) +15.245sAlastair Seeley (Royal Airforce BMW) +16.818sJakub Smrz (Smiths Racing BMW) +20.548sMCE Insurance British Superbike Championship standings after Brands Hatch race one:
Shane Byrne (Be Wiser Ducati) 643Leon Haslam (JG Speedfit Kawasaki) 616Dan Linfoot (Honda Racing) 579James Ellison (JG Speedfit Kawasaki) 560Jason O'Halloran (Honda Racing) 556Luke Mossey (Quattro Plant Teccare Kawasaki) 537
