Brookes wins 8 lap sprint, Redding penalised from 2nd to 22nd
Josh Brookes keeps his cool after two restarts to blow the opposition away in BSB race two at Thruxton; Scott Redding second on the road before penalty
Josh Brookes held his nerve to notch up fourth Bennetts British Superbike Championship win of the season in a twice-restarted second race of the day at Thruxton, while Scott Redding was given a post-race penalty that dropped him from second to 22nd.
A 20 lap race played out over almost two hours in total, it was initially halted nine laps into the encounter for safety reasons following a short shower, prompting a 13-lap restart using grid positions from the order of the stoppage.
However, only five laps into that race the red flag was deployed again when Glenn Irwin fell at the final corner and dumped oil on the course, necessitating a lengthy clean-up operation. As such, the race was decided over eight laps instead.
Getting the hammer down hard from the lights, Brookes was untouchable in the swift final encounter pulling a gap on the squabbling pack behind him and easing to the chequered flag by more than four seconds.
It was a just result for Brookes, the Australian having led at the red flag on both occasions, while Redding seemed set to make it a great end to the day for Be Wiser Ducati when he crossed the line second.
However, the championship leader’s joy was shortlived when he was instantly demoted off the podium with a 15secs penalty added to his race time in lieu of him not taking a long-lap penalty for cutting the Club chicane. With the short race failing to stretch out the field as it would have done over 20 laps, it meant he’d be classified last.
As such, race one winner Andrew Irwin concluded his breakthrough day with another podium in second position, holding off a determined Peter Hickman, who picked up a hard-fought podium in third for Smiths BMW.
Jason O’Halloran crossed the line fourth from Tommy Bridewell, who was one of the more active riders in all three encounters on his way to fifth place.
Christian Iddon was sixth from Xavi Fores, Danny Buchan, Luke Mossey and Dan Linfoot, the latter getting up to third at one stage before a physical move by Iddon dropped him back.
