Hill wins at Oulton before rain hits
Added on Sunday, July 17th, 2011 by Carole Nash Editor
Hill wins at Oulton before rain hits
Tommy Hill scored a sole British Superbike win at Oulton Park this afternoon, before the weather intervened to cancel race two.
On a day marred by downpours of rain, Oulton Park saw just one BSB race take place, with the second postponed until the end of August. After heavy rain meant the conditions were too tricky to run the race, it will now take place over the Bank Holiday weekend at Oulton Park.
As race one got underway, pole sitter John Hopkins leapt into the lead as Shane Byrne slotted into second place. As the field thundered around the opening lap, Byrne made a bid for the lead, which he took along the Lakeside section of the track.
As the race unfolded Byrne soon found himself under attack from a charging Hopkins, who was eager to regain his advantage. Before long Hill had joined the party, with the top three nose to tail for honours. As the positions changed a number of times between the top three, Byrne tried his upmost to hold onto the top spot.
Shortly afterwards chaos struck when Hopkins crashed off of his Samsung Crescent Racing Suzuki, giving Byrne some breathing space at the top. His exit from the race saw the safety car deployed for a number of laps, whilst the wreckage was cleared.
At the restart it was Hill who was on the ball to jump into the lead, leaving Byrne in second place. As the riders weaved their way towards the chequered flag Josh Brookes was on a charge, as he wrestled his way through the field to a podium position. As the flag fell Brookes had worked his way through to second place, crossing the line behind a happy Hill.
Looking back over his victory, Hill told the official BSB website: “I just pushed on in that race; it was never going to be easy but it feels great to have the Swan Yamaha back on the top step of the podium. The conditions weren’t the best with the rain but I just had to keep my concentration and just make sure I didn’t crash. I think the team probably wanted me to slow down but I just didn’t want to lose that win.”
Michael Rutter was the surprise finisher on the final tour, when he launched his Rapid Solicitors-Bathams Ducati passed Byrne at Lodge corner for third place. Byrne was left to collect fourth place, ahead of Gary Mason in fifth.
Michael Laverty was next up in sixth place, whilst Loris Baz crossed the finish line in a very lonely seventh place. Eighth place went the way of James Westmoreland, inches ahead of Jon Kirkham, whilst Scott Smart rounded out the top ten.
As the weather worsened throughout the day, it was soon deemed to difficult to go ahead with the second BSB outing, giving the riders an early finish to their Oulton Park adventure.
The next round of the 2011 BSB championship takes place on the Brands Hatch Grand Prix circuit, over the weekend of 6th-7th August.
