BSB: Brookes Takes Lights-to-Flag Victory at Oulton Park

Josh Brookes took a well-controlled victory in Race 3 at Oulton Park and put himself firmly back into championship contention.

The Ducati rider led from the lights and dictated the race out front for his second win of the season. Christian Iddon crossed the line in second while Lee Jackson snatched third from Jason O’Halloran.

Glenn Irwin continues to lead the championship on 178 points, two ahead of O’Halloran. Brookes sits third, 10 points off the top, with Iddon a further two back in fourth.

Josh Brookes (VisionTrack Ducati) took the holeshot from pole ahead of Lee Jackson (Rapid Fulfillment FS-3 Kawasaki). The Kawasaki rider, however, came off track at Old Hall and dropped into fourth, surrendering positions to Christian Iddon (VisionTrack Ducati) and Jason O’Halloran (McAMS Yamaha).

After Glenn Irwin (Honda Racing) had to retire from Race 2, it was teammate Andrew Irwin whose race ended prematurely this time. An electrical problem with his Honda on the opening lap saw him out of the action early on.

Iddon made his way past O’Halloran at Old Hall on Lap 3 and closed in on his teammate in the lead. The Ducatis were just about to stretch out a gap, forcing a reaction from their chasers. O’Halloran responded and dragged Jackson with him to the front. The pair had caught back up by Lap 6, making it a leading quartet at the head of the race.

Behind them, a trio had formed with Danny Buchan (Rapid Fulfillment FS-3 Kawasaki), Irwin and Bradley Ray (Synetiq BMW Motorrad) who had dispatched of the rest of the field.

Brookes sat a great pace with metronomic rhythm out front and was well in control despite his teammate Iddon shadowing him. The order remained the same, but with 11 laps gone, Jackson gradually started to lose touch.

All riders looked to be waiting patiently for a chance for a clean move, but the intensity picked up on Lap 16. Iddon almost clipped Brookes’ rear wheel and had to take avoiding action, giving his teammate breathing space in the lead and bunching up himself, O’Halloran and Jackson.

Brookes was home and dry and crossed the line with a comfortable lead for his second win of the season. O’Halloran was all over Iddon on the final lap, but the Ducati rider held firm in second. Jackson got great drive out of Deer Leap and accelerated down the start/finish straight to snatch third from O’Halloran and become the tenth podium finisher of the season.

Buchan held Irwin behind him for fifth with Ray coming home in seventh. Peter Hickman (Global Robots BMW) finished eighth from Tarran Mackenzie (McAMS Yamaha) and Luke Mossey (Rich Energy OMG Racing) who rounded out the top 10.

Tommy Bridewell had a difficult race in 11^th ahead of the Buildbase Suzukis of Gino Rea and Kyle Ryde. Hector Barbera (Rich Energy OMG Racing) was 14^th while Ryan Vickers (RAF Regulars and Reserves Kawasaki) secured the last point on offer in 15^th.