VOL. 52 ISSUE 18 MAY 5, 2015 P27
PHOTO
COURTESY
OF
BSB
Stuart Easton (46) and
Tommy Bridewell (25) split
wins at Oulton Park.
HIGH DRAMA AT OULTON
T
he third round of the 2015
British Superbike Champi-
onship (BSB) at Oulton Park on
May 4 produced another stun-
ning display of close quarter ac-
tion; with Tyco BMW's Tommy
Bridewell and PBM Kawasaki's
Stuart Easton surprise race vic-
tors.
But it was the clash between
long-time championship ri-
vals—Buildbase BMW's Ryuichi
Kiyonari and current BSB title-
holder Shane Byrne on the PBM
Kawasaki—that had everyone
talking.
During a fierce five-way battle
that included pole sitter Josh
Brookes on the Milwaukee
Yamaha, Easton and JG Speed-
fit Kawasaki's James Ellison,
Kiyonari and Byrne swapped
the lead on numerous occa-
sions before the Japanese rider
clipped the back of Byrne on lap
15, sending both into the gravel
trap.
That left Brookes, Ellison
and Easton to fight it out, with
Easton taking his first BSB race
win since 2010. Ellison took
home the runner-up position.
In third was Brookes, ahead
of Tyco BMW's Michael La-
verty and Honda Racing's Jason
O'Halloran.
Earlier in race one, Bride-
well took his second-ever BSB
victory after besting Brookes in
another titanic tussle. The BMW
rider beat Brookes by .160 of a
second, with Byrne third ahead
of Easton and Kiyonari.
In the overall standings, El-
lison remains on top with 109
points, Byrne is next at 101,
Brookes third with 94, Easton
fourth (80) and Tommy Bridewell
rounding out the top five (53).
In the British Supersport
Championship, Profile Triumph's
Luke Stapleford dominated
proceedings with pole position
and the race one win from Gear-
link Kawasaki's Glen Irwin and
PacedayZ Yamaha's Kyle Ryde.
Smiths Racing Triumph's Jake
Dixon took the race two win
from Ryde and Team Traction
Control Yamaha's Andy Reid.
Reid's American teammate
James Rispoli had a shocker, re-
cording two DNFs and dropping
to 14th in the series, 91 points
off leader Stapleford.
Rennie Scaysbrook
