TOMMY Hill took at hat-trick of wins at Oulton Park and extended his championship lead.
The reigning champion converted a pole start in the opening race on Saturday to win ahead of Josh Brookes.
He continued this form on Sunday, holding off Swan Yamaha team-mate Noriyuki Haga in the early-stages of the race. The former World Superbike rider would lose out on a podium finish to Tyco Suzuki's Brookes and Shane Byrne on the Rapid Solicitors Kawasaki and dropped back to fifth behind Michael Laverty on the Samsung Honda.
The final race saw Hill and Brookes fighting for the lead again, with the Australian taking the upper hand, but Hill was able to regain the lead to complete his hat-trick of wins at the Cheshire circuit.
“That was fantastic – my first hat-trick in the series. It is just great to come out on top like this but now I have flight to catch to get out Suzuka,” said Hill. “Did I ease up a bit in the that last race? No, could you not see the target on my back – they all wanted to beat me.They kept me honest out there and I had to ride as hard as I could across the whole weekend – they wanted to beat me, and I was determined they were not going to.”
Saturday race:
1: Tommy Hill (Swan Yamaha)
2: Josh Brookes (Tyco Suzuki) +4.508s
3: Shane Byrne (Rapid Solicitors Kawasaki) +10.339s
4: Noriyuki Haga (Swan Yamaha) +15.746s
5: James Westmoreland (WFR Honda) +16.256s
6: Tommy Bridewell (Supersonic BMW) +16.803s
Sunday race one:
1: Tommy Hill (Swan Yamaha)
2: Josh Brookes (Tyco Suzuki) +3.383s
3: Shane Byrne (Rapid Solicitors Kawasaki) +6.141s
4: Michael Laverty (Samsung Honda) +6.262s
5: Noriyuki Haga (Swan Yamaha) +6.552s
6: Ian Lowry (Padgetts Honda) +11.761
Sunday race two:
1: Tommy Hill (Swan Yamaha)
2: Shane Byrne (Rapid Solicitors Kawasaki) +1.135s
3: Josh Brookes (Tyco Suzuki) +1.483s
4: Noriyuki Haga (Swan Yamaha) +1.619s
5: Michael Laverty (Samsung Honda) +3.298s
6: Alex Lowes (WFR Honda) +7.093s
Championship standings:
1: Tommy Hill (Swan Yamaha) 234
2: Josh Brookes (Tyco Suzuki) 206
3: Shane Byrne (Rapid Solicitors Kawasaki) 205
4: Michael Laverty (Samsung Honda) 146
5: Tommy Bridewell (Supersonic BMW) 104
6: Noriyuki Haga (Swan Yamaha) 102
