Elliot, Mackenzie Share
Opening BSB Wins
T
he opening round of the 2019
Bennets British Superbike
Championship at Silverstone
saw Josh Elliot (Suzuki) and
Tarran Mackenzie (Yamaha) take
maiden BSB race victories, April
20-21.
The first race of the new
season saw McAMS Yamaha
teammates Jason O'Halloran and
Mackenzie head-to-head on the
final lap, with the pair colliding
and the Australian crashing out
of the race.
At the start, O'Halloran
launched off the line into the lead
of the pack ahead of Mackenzie
and Scott Redding (Ducati), but
a crash involving the Quattro
Plant JG Speedfit Kawasaki pair-
ing of Glenn Irwin, Ben Currie
and rookie David Allingham
bought out the BMW Safety Car.
When the race resumed,
O'Halloran, Mackenzie and Josh
Elliott edged away at the front of
the pack, and the McAMS Ya-
maha pair were intensely mirror-
ing each other as the Jason held
the advantage. On the final lap,
however, at turn six, Mackenzie
went for a lunge on the inside,
causing contact with O'Halloran,
who subsequently crashed out
of the race. Mackenzie took the
flag ahead of Elliott, claiming
his first Bennetts BSB podium
finish and Redding on his debut.
Post-race following an investiga-
tion, Race Direction imposed a
long-lap equivalent time penalty
of 3 seconds on Mackenzie for
contact causing O'Halloran to
crash, handing the win to Elliot
and pushing Mackenzie back
into second.
Race two saw Mackenzie
make up for his indiscretion, who
bested Elliot and Kawasaki's
Danny Buchan. It was a race
to forget for the factory Ducati
team, as Scott Redding crashed
after colliding with Andrew Irwin
on lap six, and teammate Josh
Brookes retiring with a technical
failure. O'Halloran also retired
with technical issues, marking
a miserable start to the 2019
season for the Aussie.
In the championship, Elliot
leads with 45 points, tied with
Mackenzie. Tommy Bridewell
(Ducati) is third with 24, with
Luke Mossey (Suzuki) and Danny
Buchan tied for fourth at 23. CN
IN
THE
WIND
P34
Tarran Mackenzie made up for
crashing into his teammate in
race one with the second race
victory at Silverstone.
