The opening race of the Bennetts British Superbike Championship Showdown delivered drama as Kyle Ryde claimed his first Oulton Park victory to take the standings lead by just six points as reigning champion Tommy Bridewell crashed out on the opening lap. Meanwhile Glenn Irwin kept his title hopes alive with a return to the podium.
Josh Brookes launched off the line to lead the pack for the FHO Racing BMW Motorrad Team ahead of Ryde and Bridewell, but the reigning champion crashed his Honda Racing UK Fireblade at Hislops on the opening lap to decimate his standings lead.
Brookes was determined at the front, but Glenn Irwin was pushing hard and on lap three he made a move on the brakes into Hislops to fire the Hager PBM Ducati ahead of his rivals as Ryde was also looking to make his move on the Australian in second place.
Charlie Nesbitt had also been in the lead pack at the start, but the MasterMac Honda rider slid out of the action at Hislops on lap five, whilst his teammate Lee Jackson was embroiled in the podium battle later in the race.
The lead trio were inseparable as Irwin held off Brookes and Ryde, but on lap 11, the OMG GRILLA Yamaha Racing rider lost ground in third place at Hilltop when he was forced to remove the cover from his dash as it came loose.
That gave Irwin and Brookes a slight gap, as it was a battle of Ducati versus BMW at the front, but Ryde was soon back in a rhythm to close down the lost ground. Ryde also had Jackson for company in fourth and the pair soon made it a quartet at the front fighting for the victory.
Ryde dived ahead of Brookes on lap 15 and a lap later took the lead as the top four were inseparable at the front, with Jackson also moving into third to ease Brookes back into fourth place.
Ryde then held the edge to the finish, able to gap Irwin by 0.303s as he returned to the podium for the first time since Snetterton, whilst Jackson added another podium to his tally to prevent Brookes from taking his first podium finish of the season.
Ryan Vickers was able to get ahead of Leon Haslam for the final place in the top five with Danny Kent and Peter Hickman holding top eight positions. Completely Motorbikes Kawasaki’s Jason O'Halloran and Max Cook rounded out the top ten.
Bennetts British Superbike Championship, Oulton Park, Race 1 result:
- Kyle Ryde (OMG GRILLA Yamaha Racing)
- Glenn Irwin (Hager PBM Ducati) +0.303s
- Lee Jackson (MasterMac Honda) +0.423s
- Josh Brookes (FHO Racing BMW Motorrad) +0.705s
- Ryan Vickers (OMG GRILLA Yamaha Racing) +1.147s
- Leon Haslam (ROKiT Haslam Racing BMW Motorrad) +4.297s
- Danny Kent (McAMS Racing Yamaha) +6.926s
- Peter Hickman (FHO Racing BMW Motorrad) +10.389s
- Jason O’Halloran (Completely Motorbikes Kawasaki) +10.881s
- Max Cook (Completely Motorbikes Kawasaki) +10.999s
For the full race result please click here
Bennetts British Superbike Championship standings:
- Kyle Ryde (OMG GRILLA Yamaha Racing) 300
- Tommy Bridewell (Honda Racing UK) 294
- Glenn Irwin (Hager PBM Ducati) 256
- Christian Iddon (Oxford Products Racing Ducati) 231
- Ryan Vickers (OMG GRILLA Yamaha Racing) 224
- Danny Kent (McAMS Racing Yamaha) 196
- Leon Haslam (ROKiT Haslam Racing BMW Motorrad) 184
- Lee Jackson (MasterMac Honda) 183
- Jason O'Halloran (Completely Motorbikes Kawasaki) 166
- Josh Brookes (FHO Racing BMW Motorrad) 164
For the full standings please click here