Leon Haslam stormed to his third race win of the season in the opening race of the bank holiday weekend at Oulton Park.
The series leader set the early pace aboard his JG Speedfit Kawasaki and pulled away at the front with Bynre (second) and Luke Mossey (third) in close company. However, neither rider could put a move on the ‘Pocket Rocket’ in the closing stages of the race.
Australian, Jason O’Halloran made a late surge through the field aboard his Honda to snatch fourth position from Peter Hickman, at the line. Whilst an impressive ride by James Ellison saw the Lancaster man jump from 15th on the grid to finish sixth ahead of Josh Brookes (seventh) and Christian Iddon (eighth).
A huge moment for Glenn Irwin on lap 12 saw the Ducati rider drop down into ninth, with youngster Jake Dixon rounding out the top ten.
After the race Haslam said: “We had a great test here last week and came into the weekend instantly on the pace. We did a lot of experimenting in practice and we’ve worked a lot on electronics and chassis setup."
“In the race the bike was faultless, it all went to plan again like it did at Donington Park. I knew we could set some fast times and I was confident I could up the pace towards the end of the race if I needed to.”
Race 1 Results:
| 1 91 Leon HASLAM GBR Kawasaki - JG Speedfit Kawasaki |
| 2 67 Shane BYRNE GBR Ducati - Be Wiser Ducati Racing Team |
| 3 12 Luke MOSSEY GBR Kawasaki - JG Speedfit Kawasaki |
| 4 22 Jason O'HALLORAN GBR Honda - Honda Racing |
| 5 60 Peter HICKMAN GBR BMW - Smiths Racing |
| 6 77 James ELLISON GBR Yamaha - McAMS Yamaha |
| 7 25 Josh BROOKES AUS Yamaha - Anvil Hire TAG Racing |
| 8 24 Christian IDDON GBR BMW - Tyco BMW Motorrad |
| 9 2 Glenn IRWIN GBR Ducati - Be Wiser Ducati Racing Team |
| 10 27 Jake DIXON GBR Kawasaki - RAF Regular & Reserve Kawasaki |
| 11 46 Tommy BRIDEWELL GBR Kawasaki - Team WD-40 |
| 12 3 Billy McCONNELL AUS Kawasaki - Quattro Plant FS-3 Racing Kawasaki |
| 13 96 Jakub SMRZ CZE BMW - Lloyd & Jones PR Racing BMW |
| 14 21 John HOPKINS USA Ducati - Moto Rapido |
| 15 14 Lee JACKSON GBR BMW - Smiths Racing |
| 16 4 Dan LINFOOT GBR Honda - Honda Racing |
| 17 34 Alastair SEELEY GBR BMW - Tyco BMW Motorrad |
| 18 6 Taylor MACKENZIE GBR Suzuki - Bennetts Suzuki |
| 19 33 Michael DUNLOP GBR Suzuki - Buildbase Suzuki |
| 20 5 James WESTMORELAND GBR Kawasaki - Gearlink Kawasaki |
| 21 8 Shaun WINFIELD GBR Yamaha - Anvil Hire TAG Racing |
| 22 64 Aaron ZANOTTI GBR Yamaha - Platform Hire Yamaha |
| 23 40 Martin JESSOPP GBR BMW - RidersMotorcycles.com BMW |
|
| DNF 7 Michael LAVERTY GBR 21:35.668 5 Laps Yamaha - McAMS Yamaha |
| DNF 50 Sylvain GUINTOLI FRA 11:46.688 6 Laps Suzuki - Bennetts Suzuki |
| DNF 28 Bradley RAY GBR 9:45.564 1 Lap Suzuki - Buildbase Suzuki |
Championship Standings:
| Leon HASLAM (Kawasaki) 111 |
| Luke MOSSEY (Kawasaki) 97 |
| Christian IDDON (BMW) 73 |
| Josh BROOKES (Yamaha) 57 |
| Peter HICKMAN (BMW) 48 |
| Jason O'HALLORAN (Honda) 45 |
| Glenn IRWIN (Ducati) 43 |
| Shane BYRNE (Ducati) 33 |
| James ELLISON (Yamaha) 31 |
| Dan LINFOOT (Honda) 30 |
| Tommy BRIDEWELL (Kawasaki) 23 |
| Michael LAVERTY (Yamaha) 21 |
| Jake DIXON (Kawasaki) 16 |
| Sylvain GUINTOLI (Suzuki) 15 |
| John HOPKINS (Ducati) 15 |
| Bradley RAY (Suzuki) 14 |
| Davide GIUGLIANO (BMW) 10 |
| Jakub SMRZ (BMW) 9 |
| Billy McCONNELL (Kawasaki) 4 |
| Taylor MACKENZIE (Suzuki) 3 |
| Shaun WINFIELD (Yamaha) 1 |
| Lee JACKSON (BMW) 1 |
