Glenn Irwin Takes Race One Victory At Silverstone.

You could feel the tension on the Superbike grid as all 27 riders lined-up, Jason O’Halloran was on Pole Position, Tarran Mackenzie was in second place, with Tommy Bridewell in third.

It was McAMS Yamaha’s Jason O’Halloran who led the pack into Copse, it was drama from the off as on lap two FHO Racing BMW’s Peter Hickman crashed out at Maggotts, Hickman only needed to score one point to be confirmed for the Showdown. BMW’s Danny Buchan and Ryan Vickers had a coming together at Luffield on the same lap, also lower down the field Keith Farmer and Takumi Takahashi collided, both incidents brought the safety car out.

As the race got going again it was O’Halloran and Tommy Bridewell fighting for first position, Glenn Irwin was third, with his brother Andrew just behind him in fourth place. Josh Brookes was in seventh place, FS-3 Racing’s Kawasaki’s Lee Jackson suffered a mechanical on lap 10, that was a disaster for the Lincolnshire rider regarding his Showdown hopes!

At half-way distance O’Halloran was holding onto first place, Christian Iddon slipped between the Irwin brothers and was in fourth place. Josh Brookes set the fastest lap of the race on lap 12, the Australian was in seventh place. Glenn Irwin passed Bridewell for second pace, Bridewell ran wide letting Iddon into third place.

With six laps remaining Tarran Mackenzie passed Iddon for third place, Brookes and Brad Ray were having a battle for seventh place, it was vital for both riders to beat each other. Mackenzie took second place from Glenn Irwin, so it was a McAMS one-two, the leading duo were making a slight gap from the rest of the field.

On the penultimate lap Tarran made a move on his team-mate, Mackenzie’s R1M high-sided and collected O’Halloran, both the McAMS riders were down at Brooklands, it was deja vue for O’Halloran from 2019! Glenn Irwin took the victory, Iddon was second, Bridewell was third, Brookes was fourth and Brad Ray finished in fifth.

Lee Jackson has now dropped into tenth place, Brad Ray has moved-up into the crucial last eighth Showdown place, Brookes has moved-up one place to ninth. It’s all to play for tomorrow as the tension rebuilds for Race Two! Suzuki’s Gino Rea is on pole for Race Two, Tarran Mackenzie is in second place, with Josh Brookes in third place rounding out the front row of the grid.

Featured Images: Bennetts British Superbikes, Honda Racing UK.