BSB race 1:

Glenn Irwin took his first pole of the season and his first career superbike pole he set a blistering time early in the session, The Ducati man had been the pace setter throughout practice and seemed very confident before the weekend began. Joining him on the front row was Josh Brookes who was only 0.081 secs off the pole himself and looking more like the 2015 champion that every one remembers, Jake Dixon completed the front row continuting on from where he left off at Knockhill hoping to build off that weekend and put himself well into title contention.

An impressive Tarran MacKenzie headed up the 2nd row the young rookie looking extremely impressive on the Yamaha and showing exactly why he was given the chance in the factory Yamaha team. Leon Haslam and Luke Mossey completed the 2nd row Haslam looked to be struggling early on in the weekend but found a bit of pace to get himself into a solid qualifying position while Mossey finally looked to have regained the confidence he lost after some major crashes.

Top 10 was as follows:

1 2 Glenn IRWIN GBR Ducati – Be Wiser Ducati Racing Team

2 25 Josh BROOKES AUS Yamaha – McAMS Yamaha

3 27 Jake DIXON GBR Kawasaki – RAF Regular & Reserves Kawasaki

4 95 Tarran MACKENZIE GBR Yamaha – McAMS Yamaha

5 91 Leon HASLAM GBR Kawasaki – JG Speedfit Kawasaki

6 12 Luke MOSSEY GBR Kawasaki – JG Speedfit Kawasaki

7 21 Christian IDDON GBR BMW – Tyco BMW Motorrad

8 18 Andrew IRWIN GBR Ducati – Be Wiser Ducati Racing Team

9 47 Richard COOPER GBR Suzuki – Buildbase Suzuki

10 22 Jason O’HALLORAN GBR Honda – Honda Racing

Josh Brookes took the 1st of the weekend and his season in a thrilling race that came down to the very last lap, Brookes took the hoelshot and controlled the race from the start he did look to have broken away on lap 16 but was hauled back in by second place man Glenn Irwin but just had enough to take the win. Irwin brought his Ducati home in 2nd place he pushed hard early on attempting passes on Brookes but wasnt able to quite make any of them stick he looked to have the pace to match Brookes but not quite enough to hassle the Austrailian until closing right up on him on the final lap.

Tarran MacKenzie had been running in 3rd place right up to the closing stages of the race but crashed his Yamaha leaving championship leader and title favourite Leon Haslam with 3rd place. Jake Dixon couldnt convert his practice and qualifying into race pace bring the RAF Reserves Kawasaki home in 4th place ahead of Christian Iddon in 5th a much improved result for the TYCO BMW man who is slowly starting to get his season going. Peter Hickman,Richard Cooper,Danny Buchan,Andy Irwin and Michael Laverty completed the top 10 in a hotly contested race right throughout the field.

Race 2:

In what was almost a carbon copy of race 1 Josh Brookes took the win in race 2 leading from start to finish again and becoming the King of Brands for 2018, Brookes took the holeshot and never looked back from there controlling the race.

Glenn Iriwn again pushed him hard but just didnt quite have enough to beat the Yamaha but two second places did his title challenge no harm. Completing the podium as he did in race 1 was Leon Haslam he was able to match Brookes and Irwin early on but in the closing stages of the race lost touch with them and finished in a lonely 3rd.

Jake Dixon completed a solid if not slightly disappointing weekend for himself given his pace during practice and qualifying he managed to fend off a hard charging Tarran MacKenzie who looked to have made a real step forward this weekend finishing in 5th place, Chrisitan Iddon completed the top 6 with another solid result for the TYCO BMW man. Completing the top 10 in race 2 was Tommy Bridewell, Danny Buchan, James Ellison and Peter Hickman.

Supersport race 1:

Before the race even began there was some drama concerning the Supersport title chase with series leader Jack Kennedy pulling out of the weekend due to broken fingers he suffered from a crash testing in America, This left the path clear for the other series stand out Ben Currie he eventually took the win but was made to work much harder than most would of expected by a resurgent David Allingham who has shown a return to form since being given his 2015 spec bike . Rounding out the podium and completing a EHA racing 2 and 3 was Ross Tywman he didnt have quite the pace of the front 2 but was well clear in 3rd place.

Race 2:

Ben Curries hopes of closing the gap at the top of the championship took a massive hit as he ran into bike issues in race 2, He had been well in the lead looking secure at the front but with 1 lap to go the Kawasaki slowed dramatically meaning Currie eventually finished in 6th place. Currie’s issues allowed Kyle Ryde to take the win on the Kalex GP2 bike Ryde making his return to the middle weight class after starting the year in the superbike class rode well and fought off his team mate Josh Owens who eventually came home in 2nd. The first Supersport bike across the line was a resurgent David Allingham who took the supersport race win finishing 3rd in the actual race.

Stock 100 race 1:

The stock 100 championship was thrown wide open after a very attritional 2 part race for the series leaders, Joe Collier took the wins in both parts as well as taking the championship lead, In part 1 he pipped title rival Keith Farmer to the line after a back and forth battle all race Billy McConnell had been looking strong but dropped his Suzuki. Tom Neave who has shown great potential since joining the series late due to shoulder surgery completed the podium in part 1 and could have been higher if not for a mechancial issue which he corrected mid way through the race,

Part 2 saw Neave and Farmer battle it out for the early laps until Farmer unfortunately crashed his BMW out of the race and losing valuable points in the title race. Neave was then joined by Collier at the front and the 2 fought tooth and nail till the final corner where Neave crashed out after trying a last ditch move into the final corner. Josh Elliott came home in 2nd in what is only his second outing on the OMG Suzuki and Alex Olsen completed the podium.

Race 2:

First start red flagged due to a massive incident on the first lap those taken out in the incident inlcuded new championship leader Joe Collier, The restart saw Billy McConnell take the win regrouping after a couple of non finishes at Knockhill and in Race 1 McConnell held off the challenge of Keith Farmer and Alex Olsen in what was a very tight race between the top 4 riders. It had been a top 5 unfortunately Tyalor MacKenzie returning to the championship after his split from the Moto Rapido team in BSB, The result for Farmer and Collier’s non finish left Farmer with the championship lead in what is shaping up to be a very tight title fight.

Next up for alot of the BSB guys is the Suzuka 8 hour race where they will join the likes of Jonathan Rea in what is dubbed the greatest motorcycle race in the world. The whole event is shown live on Eurosport and if you havent seen it before I recommend you give it a watch.

As always thanks to @photography_rjd for the photos.